TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Officials using fake tombs to extort illegal levies: Ahok
Amid a shortage of available land for graves in Jakarta, Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama has claimed that the practice of rogue officials using fake tombs to extract illegal levies from residents was rife.
Change Size
People pray at the graves of their relatives in Karet Bivak public cemetery on May 30. It is an Indonesian tradition to visit the graves of deceased relatives prior to Ramadhan. (Antara/Aprilio Akbar)
A
mid a shortage of available land for graves in Jakarta, Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama has claimed that the practice of rogue officials using fake tomb to extract illegal levies from residents was rife.
Directing a blow at the Jakarta Parks and Cemeteries Agency, Ahok said that rogue officials from the agency extracted illegal levies by offering vacant tombs, which appeared as though they were occupied, to residents at high prices.
"There are graves with engraved tomb stones but without any corpse inside. If someone is willing to pay more for a particular location, their relatives can be buried in the front row, which is the preferred place for burial,” Ahok said at City Hall on Thursday without giving further details about where the fake graves were located.
In response, the administration will increase the promotion of cemetery fee information. The maximum fee is Rp 100,000 (US$7.5), which must be paid through Bank DKI Jakarta.
Ahok said rogue officials suspected of extorting money from residents would be investigated and dismissed if proven guilty.
The administration will establish a data system for cemeteries in the city, to prevent such practices from taking place in the future, he added.
Ahok turned his attention to the Parks and Cemeteries Agency following a finding by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) in the Jakarta administration's 2015 financial report that revealed irregularities in the opening of four bank accounts on behalf of the north, west, south and east Jakarta offices of the agency. (rin)
