TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Jakarta Legislative Council (DPRD) Development Commission has allocated Rp200 billion for the purchase of burial lands next year. The plan was approved at a meeting to discuss the 2021 regional budget planning on Thursday, December 3.

Syarif, secretary of the Commission, said that next year the government plans to buy burial land in four locations. "We have decided on the lands. If the budget is given, we hope to purchase them by the third month of next year," he said on December 4.

The Gerindra politician said Jakarta has been in a crisis of burial grounds in Jakarta for a long time. Even the special burial ground for Covid-19 at the Pondok Rangon TPU, East Jakarta was full two weeks ago.

"The need for land for Covid-19 cemeteries is quite urgent because there is almost no more," he said.

Currently, the government only relies on Tegal Alur cemetery in West Jakarta for Covid-19 burials, even though the contours of the land there are not suitable for burying bodies.

"Next year, we have to buy burial grounds. There is limited space in Jakarta now, and many cemeteries are burying corpses in old graves of their family members," he said.

Read: Jakarta Sees Spike in COVID-19 Burial in November

Imam Hamdi