he Thousand Islands will be equipped with two hearse boats next year, as Rp 5.4 billion (US$400,000) for their procurement has been included as a budgetary priority.
The regency has needed the specially designed boats for several years, as not all islands have public cemeteries, and renting a boat to transport bodies for burial is expensive.
Commission A of the Jakarta Regional Legislative Council, which oversees governance, agreed on Tuesday to include the procurement of two hearse boats in the regency's 2018 priority budget.
Council Deputy Speaker Muhammad Taufik said the Thousand Islands' need for hearse boats had been acknowledged since 2013, but that their procurement had always been postponed.
“It seems two boats won't be enough," Taufik was quoted by wartakota.tribunnews.com. He also suggested that procuring four hearse boats might be a possibility.
Thousand Islands Regent Irmansyah welcomed the plan, and said that two boats would be enough to meet the regency's needs.
One of the hearse boats will be docked in the northern part of the regency, while the other will be docked in the south. (yon)
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