Review of cemetery expropriation urged

JAKARTA (JP): City councillors yesterday urged the city administration to review whether the expropriation of a 2,823 square-meter piece of land in the Menteng Pulo public cemetery, South Jakarta, by PT Interland Angkasa had been done in accordance with proper procedures.

"We hope the city administration will review whether proper procedures were applied during the company's acquisition of the land," said councilor Abu Bakar from the City Council's Commission E on people's welfare.

PT Interland Angkasa, a subsidiary of the Bakrie Group, has acquired the land adjacent to the cemetery including the nearby state Senior High School 43 on Jl. Minangkabau Dalam.

It reportedly wants to acquire an even larger amount of the surrounding land for the construction of a super-block.

Abu Bakar is concerned because the graves in the cemetery have already been relocated to Kampung Kandang, South Jakarta, without first specifying the compensation the city administration will receive from the expropriation.

"The calculation will be done later," said Uhe, the sub-divisional head of the City Funeral Office in charge of the mapping and use of graveyards.

When asked why the company was allowed to proceed without first agreeing on the amount of compensation, Uhe would not answer.

Semper cemetery

City councilors also expressed concern yesterday over the Semper public cemetery in North Jakarta, which is continually plagued by floods during the rainy season.

"We hope the City Funeral Office quickly completes the construction of a water conduit to the Cakung drain," said Abu Bakar, adding that the office should then raise the ground level of the cemetery.

Suharto, the head of the Semper public cemetery, said the aforementioned measures were also aimed at preventing the flooding of a newly incorporated 11.4-hectare site.

The 11.4-hectare site is land compensation from the state- owned seaport company Pelabuhan Indonesia Dua (Pelindo) for the appropriation of the five-hectare Dobo public cemetery in Koja, Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta,

The appropriation of the Dobo public cemetery is part of Pelindo's plan to build a new container terminal at the Koja subdistrict.

Pelindo has pledged to finance both the relocation of the Dobo cemetery to the new site at Semper and raising the ground level, Suharto said.

He explained that the cemetery height should be level with the cemetery's parking lot at 1.4 meters higher.

Pelindo is now negotiating with PT Rangga Prima, the contractor hired by the City Funeral Office to heighten the relocated cemetery, Suharto said.

The Semper public cemetery currently holds 13,550 graves with a total capacity of 70,000. Before being appropriated by the City Funeral Office in 1977 the area was wetland.

About 24 hectares of the cemetery has been allotted for Moslems, 12 hectares for Christians, five hectares for Buddhists and one hectare for Hindus. (arf)