Jakarta Cemetery Crisis, DKI DPRD Ensures Approval Of The Budget For The Addition Of TPU Land Next Year

Illustration. Residents make grave pilgrimages at the Menteng Pulo Public Cemetery (TPU), Jakarta, Sunday 22 May 2014. (ANTARA PHOTO-Indrianto Eko Suwarso)

JAKARTA - Chairman of Commission D of the DKI Jakarta DPRD, Yuke Yurike, ensured that his party would approve the budget for additional burial land in Jakarta next year. Because, currently Jakarta is faced with a crisis of vacant land in public cemeteries (TPU).

"This is not something that can be delayed, because if we don't have land reserves, it will be a serious problem. Therefore, in the 2026 budget, we also ask that the budget for additional burial land be prepared," Yuke told reporters, Thursday, October 29.

Yuke realized that the vacant land that was still available in Jakarta to be used as a TPU was difficult to find, especially in the middle of the city. This is in line with the increasingly expensive price of land. Therefore, the addition of a new burial area is needed.

"Currently, the available land is only sufficient for the next three years. So, to be safe, we have to prepare from now on while looking for effective management patterns," said Yuke.

In preparing the DKI Jakarta Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBD), Yuke admitted that his party had asked the DKI Jakarta City Parks and Forests Service (Distamhut) to detail the need for a large burial area and the number of grave plots to resolve the TPU crisis problem, including the option of buying a burial ground outside Jakarta.

"Details will later be determined by the relevant agencies, whether it is for the expansion of existing graves, which is certainly easier, or the clearing of new land. Because the opening of the new land requires a long process, such as land preparation, road access, environmental permits, and so on. So, we submit the technicality to the service, but we continue to monitor it so that it is spread across five city areas, including in the Thousand Islands, whose land is very limited and needs special attention," said Yuke.

Jakarta is facing the threat of a funeral land crisis. It is predicted that in the next 3 years, Jakarta will no longer have a burial ground if there is no additional number of plots and expansion of the TPU.

The DKI Provincial Government also has difficulty finding land to be used as a new public cemetery (TPU). Because, currently the price of land in Jakarta is increasingly expensive. Head of the DKI Jakarta City Parks and Forests Service (Distamhut), Fajar Sauri, revealed that the DKI Provincial Government is now considering clearing new burial grounds for Jakarta residents in buffer areas.

"There are several proposals because the land is very expensive in Jakarta. So, we are trying to cooperate with around DKI, for example in Depok or Tangerang. Hopefully, the Governor's permission will be able to cooperate with the regions," Fajar told reporters, Friday, October 24.

Fajar explained, Jakarta has 80 TPUs spread across 5 cities. Unfortunately, 69 TPUs are full and only receive overlapping grave services that are usually carried out in one family. According to him, this is enough to be a temporary solution for the lack of land for tombs.

"There can be a maximum of four graves (passengers). To take a minilal it must be 3 years (distance between bodies to be buried)," said Fajar.

Currently, there are 11 TPUs that are still serving new funerals. In East Jakarta, they are located at the Rawa Terate TPU, Cipayung TPU, Cilangkap TPU, apus bamboo TPU, and Cipinang Besar TPU.

Meanwhile, North Jakarta is located at the Rorotan TPU. Then, South Jakarta at the Tanah Kusir TPU, Srengseng Sawah TPU, and Kampung Kandang TPU. West Jakarta at the Tegal Alur TPU, as well as the Complaint TPU.