Surjadi approves plan to improve public cemeteries
Surjadi approves plan to improve public cemeteries
JAKARTA (JP): Governor Surjadi Soedirdja has given the go-
ahead to a plan to standardize cemeteries in the city, which will
make them function as scenic areas, greeneries as well as areas
that will retain groundwater levels.
Head of City Cemetery Office Sjafril Zainuddin announced
yesterday that the governor fully supports the plan and has urged
all city institutions to take active roles in implementing the
plan.
"Governor Surjadi has urged all related institutions to
participate in the project and he specifically asked the cemetery
office to increase public presentation on this plan," Sjafril
said.
He said the governor agreed to allocate a budget for the
1995/1996 fiscal year to finance the first project on 16.8
hectares of the Karet Bivak cemetery in Central Jakarta.
He said the total cost for refurbishing Karet Bivak is
estimated at Rp 2.6 billion (US$1.18 million).
"We chose Karet Bivak cemetery because of its strategic
location. It will have a positive impact on the project in the
future," he said, explaining that people who see the cemetery can
support the program with other cemeteries in the city.
Currently, there are about 40,000 graves in Karet Bivak
cemetery. In the first stage, 3,209 of the graves will be
relocated to other sites, with a small number of them being
relocated to Pondok Rangon and Pondok Kelapa cemeteries.
"We have to relocate those graves and the governor has ordered
my office not to charge the heirs any fee for the relocations,"
Sjafril said, adding that the plan includes the construction of a
center in front of the cemetery for flower traders.
He explained the project could wipe out prevailing
superstitions that cemeteries are haunted and fear inspiring.
"When completed, all city cemeteries will not only function as
burial sites but also as city green areas and catchments so they
can be useful for those still alive."
He said the project is useful because it can decrease the
level of pollution in Jakarta.
The city administration issued City Regulation No. 2 in 1992
on cemetery planning which sets the standard design of graves in
Jakarta. The regulation forbids the use of bricks or concrete in
the construction of graves and allows only soil, grass and a
tombstone to be used.
Sjafril said the standardization of graves enables the city to
monitor the number of graves per hectare in a cemetery. The
number should be exactly 1,800 graves per hectare.
There are 614 cemeteries in Jakarta but only 101, totaling 556
hectares, comply with the city's planning. (yns)