Buy 5 COVID-19 Burial Grounds For Rp. 185 Billion, DKI Admits Not All Can Be Used

JAKARTA - Head of the City Park and Forest Service, Suzi Marsitawati, said that the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government has spent a budget of IDR 185 billion to purchase five new burial ground since the end of 2020.

However, Suzi admitted that not all of the land for public burial sites (TPU) specifically for COVID-19 can be used at this time. The graves that can be used are in Srengseng Sawah TPU, South Jakarta and Bambu Wulung Cemetery, East Jakarta.

Meanwhile, TPU Dukuh, East Jakarta; TPU Semper, North Jakarta; and TPU Joglo, West Jakarta cannot be used yet. This is because the three locations are still in land preparation.

"We need time. Right now, the conditions have not been arranged. So, we will arrange a little more, we will improve it," said Suzi at the City Hall of DKI, Central Jakarta, Monday, January 25.

Suzi said one of the obstacles that caused the length of time to open a new grave area specifically for COVID-19 was the limited heavy equipment owned by the DKI Jakarta Highways Agency.

However, Suzi admitted that his party was accelerating the land clearing process. "My officers work every day until 11pm. That requires high enthusiasm as well. It's a shame that they work hard, not to mention the high risk," Suzi explained.

For information, the land purchased in the five locations has an area of about 3.3 hectares. It is estimated that the newly purchased grave land will be able to accommodate 8,800 bodies.

DKI is also finalizing land owned by the Provincial Government in Rorotan, North Jakarta. The preparation for the burial ground at Rorotan Cemetery began on September 17, 2020. The DKI Provincial Government will use a 2 hectare land.

Later, there will be 1,500 grave plots that can be accommodated in Rorotan TPU. However, until now, the burial ground in Rorotan cannot be used. Rorotan is a lowland area close to the sea in North Jakarta with a wet soil structure.

This is what makes the DKI Pemprov take a long time to finalize the TPU Rorotan burial ground, so that it will only be used when DKI has experienced a COVID-19 burial land crisis.

Meanwhile, the two graves at Pondok Ranggon TPU and Tegal Alur TPU have been completely filled with the bodies of COVID-19. Some of the new bodies there were buried using an overlapping system with other bodies that were still related.