Resting in peace getting expensive

JAKARTA (JP): The practice of extorting illegal levies has become so common in the city that even people mourning the death of their relatives at public cemeteries are not safe.

Last weekend, about 50 families joined hands to protest the illegal practice at the Grogol public cemetery in Kemanggisan, West Jakarta.

Zainul, who represented the protesters, said that the Rp 360,000 (US$160) that the cemetery management asks to bury each body was not only too expensive but also illegal. The official fee is Rp 10,000, he said.

Suara Karya daily reported yesterday that the protesters also condemned the cemetery officials for vandalizing at least 20 graves because the dead people's relatives refused to succumb to their demand.

Instead of paying Rp 250,000 for a tombstone, the relatives did the digging and fixed the tombstones by themselves.

The protesters also filed their complaints with the governor, demanding that the cemetery officials be punished for corruption. (bsr)