No more flowers for the dead
The City Burial Affairs Agency plans to launch a campaign to persuade friends and family of the deceased not to put flowers vases on their family's graves.
Sridhana, acting head of the office, said that in the future the authority will only allow gravestones and grass to be placed on the graves.
"But families and relatives of the dead are still allowed to have flowers made of paper or plastic on the graves ," Sridhana said.
He did not say when the police might be called in to patrol for violators who might defy the law and continue to place flowers on the final resting places of their friends and family.
According to Sridhana, graves without flower vases are more beautiful that those with the vases and are environmentally healthier because they cannot be used by mosquitos as a breeding ground.
"This is not an easy work because there is a tradition among many Jakartans to put flower vases on the graves of their love ones," Sridhana admitted. (bsr)
Jakarta won't vie Kalpataru award
Jakarta has decided not to send its representatives to compete for the prestigious Kalpataru environment award this year.
Speaking in a press conference here Thursday, Abuyono, head of the Environmental Affairs Bureau of the City Municipality, said: "It's not easy to find a qualified candidates to represent us in the contest."
Nominees for the Kalpataru award are usually selected from lower-income residents who have shown dedication on the protection of environment.(bsr)
Volley ball meet of sister-cities
The city administration, in cooperation with the All Indonesian Volley Ball Association (PBVSI), will stage a volley ball tournament among the students of Jakarta's sister cities between June 16 and 22.
The tournament, the first to be held here, is called First Jakarta Sister City Cup Volley Ball Tournament (FJSCVT), Abdul Munir, a spokesman for the City Hall said yesterday.
Munir said it would be held at the Senayan sports center and joined by students from Jakarta, President Bill Clinton's home state of Arkansas, the Australian province of New South Wales, and the cities of Tokyo, Seoul, Los Angeles, Rotterdam, Berlin and Casablanca. (jsk)