A lack of space in the capital's cemeteries has Jakartans struggling to find places to bury their loved ones.

To deal with this issue, at least for the next decade, the management of Kalibata Heroes Cemetery in South Jakarta is planning to expand its cemetery grounds by adding 900 burial plots.

“The plan to expand the cemetery for phase one includes 288 graves. It is in process of happening,” cemetery head Iri Saputra said on Thursday.

For the second phase, the management will add 625 graves on land that is currently under auction.

Iri said the land used for the expansion comprised gardens within the cemetery grounds. “We will use it to expand the graveyard capacity,” he said.

The cemetery, which has a capacity of 10,962 graves, currently has 10,026 occupied grave sites.

With the additional burial plots, Iri said the cemetery would have enough space to last the next 10 years.

“The [increased] capacity will allow for an additional 913 [burial plots]. It could accommodate [bodies] for the next 10 years, more or less,” he said.

Of Jakarta’s 84 public cemeteries, 16 can no longer add new burial plots, according to the head of the funeral service unit at the Jakarta Forestry Agency, Ricky Putra. The 16 cemeteries are located in Central Jakarta, East Jakarta and West Jakarta. (sau)