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emeteries today are becoming more and more luxurious. The San Diego Hills Memorial Park in Karawang, West Java, for instance, has its own jogging track and swimming pool.

As luxury cemeteries have only been accessible to the wealthy, with the cheapest prices of a single burial plot in San Diego Hills starting from Rp 20 million (US$1,500), the Jakarta administration plans to build a new cemetery as an expansion of the Bambu Apus public cemetery in Cipayung, East Jakarta, so that low- to middle-income families can enjoy similar facilities.

Under the plan, the Jakarta Forestry Agency will add a jogging track around the new cemetery as well as an embung (artificial lake) in the middle of the cemetery, in order to transform the gloomy image of the cemetery.

But apparently the agency has not taken into account the deeply superstitious nature of many of the locals living near the cemetery.

Supiah, 39, who lives next to the cemetery, for instance, believes that it is a sacred place and thus should not be transformed into an amusement park.

“A cemetery should remain a cemetery. Besides, if we take our children to see the embung in the middle of the cemetery, they might be scared, not excited,” she said.

“And if something [untoward] happens while people are jogging or playing around the embung, residents might think it was because they did or said something improper,” Supiah added.

“I know it sounds ridiculous but many of us still believe in such folklore,” said she.

Another resident, Arianto, 29, said that he appreciated the local administration’s effort to brighten up the cemetery, but he suggested the agency build the embung outside the cemetery.

“Still in the cemetery complex but not in the middle of the cemetery. And if the administration wants to eliminate the gloomy image, they could install bright lamps throughout the cemetery,” he said.

Responding to the concerns, the agency’s cemetery department head, Siti Hasna, gave an assurance that the expansion would not diminish the sanctity of the cemetery.

“The jogging track is aimed for pedestrians who visit the cemetery and also hearses […] and we’ll place the embung in the middle of the cemetery as water catchment because it is located in low land, which is prone to flooding. Besides, the water from the embung can be used for watering the graves there,” she said on Thursday.

To reduce the risk of drowning in the embung, the agency will deploy security officers in the grounds, Siti added.

She also urged parents to monitor their children while visiting the cemetery.

The Bambu Apus cemetery expansion will be the agency’s pilot project in developing empty
land for cemeteries in the capital city.

Developed on 4.9 hectares of land, the new cemetery will be able to accommodate 9,000 burial plots. The agency will build a path to connect the existing Bambu Apus cemetery to the new one and also provide an entrance to the new cemetery so visitors can enter through old and new gates.

The existing cemetery, Siti said, would not be renovated. However, she did not rule out the possibility of planting more trees, depending on land availability.

The development of the new cemetery will be conducted either in July or August this year with a budget of Rp 13 billion.

“The development will be completed next year. In the first year, we will allocate some of the budget to build the embung, jogging track, garden and parking area. In the second year, we’ll build the management office and public toilets,” Siti said.

To prevent the misuse of empty land in the new cemetery, the agency has placed six security officers to monitor the cemetery from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. as it is feared that the land could be used for billboards and illegal buildings.