Tomb removal to continue

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)