Tomb removal to continue

TANGERANG (JP): The Tangerang mayoralty will push ahead with plans to remove 310 tombs from the Cepek and Tanah Gocap public cemeteries, for the construction of a roadway, despite protests from the relatives of people buried there.

The mayoralty will bear the cost of removing the tombs before they are handed over to the relatives for completion, Agus Burhanuddin of the mayoralty said Saturday.

About 300 relatives of people buried in the two public cemeteries rejected Thursday the Tangerang mayoralty's compensation offer of Rp 74,710 (US$28.19) for each grave removed.

The relatives, mostly Indonesian citizens of Chinese descent, said the mayoralty's offer was too low.

Moreover, those who accepted the compensation offer were required to relocate the graves themselves, according to relatives.

"In our tradition, a grave relocation needs a special ceremony," said one relative who asked for anonymity. "The ceremony costs money."

Burhanudin said the graves must be relocated because the present site was needed for the Cisadane riverside road from Jl. Karawaci to Jl. Syaeh Yusuf.

The mayoralty had provided a one-hectare plot of land in the Kedaung Baru subdistrict of Batuceper, Tangerang, for the relocation of graves, he said.

The new site had been incorporated in Tangerang's spatial planning. "The site will not be changed again in the future," he said. (41/jun)