GEORGE TOWN (Sept 14, 2010): The Penang Island Municipal Council will not repossess "occupied" burial plots in the Western Road Christian cemetery and is only requiring the deceased's family members to provide their contact information for proper management of the cemetery.
Clarifying the council's notice calling on family members and relatives of those buried in the 19th century cemetery at Jalan Utama to provide certain information to the council by Nov 30, development planning committee alternative chairman Felix Ooi Keat Hin said the council does not plan to repossess plots that are occupied even if nobody came forward to provide the information required.
"We will not exhume those already buried there. We only want contact information of the relatives of the deceased relatives so that we know who to contact in future if anything were to happen to the graves such as vandalism," he said.
However, those who have bought burial plots in the cemetery and left it vacant for years are required to provide more detailed information such as proof of purchase, their contact information and plot number.
"There are about 100 vacant plots that we do not have records of ownerships so those who have bought plots there, they must come forward to register with the council," he said.
He added that the cemetery, covering 7.28ha, currently has around 200 available burial plots which the council could put up for sale.
"We need to find out if the additional 100 over vacant plots are available or were bought and left vacant so if no one come forward to claim the vacant plots, we will repossess it and sell it as available burial plots," he said, adding that burial plots in the cemetery are high in demand.
He said the purpose of the exercise is to put in place a proper management of the cemetery so that the council will have a complete record of those who owned the vacant plots and the contact information of relatives of those who were buried there.
The council is also in the process of upgrading the cemetery including improving the security of the cemetery to prevent vandalism and also to stop it from turning into a drug addicts' haunt.
"The council has allocated RM400,000 to upgrade the cemetery such as building new perimeter fencing, cleaning up the area, getting rid if mosquito breeding grounds and we are also hiring a new caretaker since the previous one has already retired," he said.
The Christian cemetery is probably one of the oldest in the country, dating back to the late 1800s.
The cemetery houses more than 11,000 burial plots and amongst those buried there are 84 Russian soldiers who perished when the Russian ship Zemschug sank off Penang harbour on Oct 28, 1914, British soldiers who died fighting the communists during the Emergency between 1948 and 1960 and Royal Australia Air Force soldiers.
Clarifying the council's notice calling on family members and relatives of those buried in the 19th century cemetery at Jalan Utama to provide certain information to the council by Nov 30, development planning committee alternative chairman Felix Ooi Keat Hin said the council does not plan to repossess plots that are occupied even if nobody came forward to provide the information required.
"We will not exhume those already buried there. We only want contact information of the relatives of the deceased relatives so that we know who to contact in future if anything were to happen to the graves such as vandalism," he said.
However, those who have bought burial plots in the cemetery and left it vacant for years are required to provide more detailed information such as proof of purchase, their contact information and plot number.
"There are about 100 vacant plots that we do not have records of ownerships so those who have bought plots there, they must come forward to register with the council," he said.
He added that the cemetery, covering 7.28ha, currently has around 200 available burial plots which the council could put up for sale.
"We need to find out if the additional 100 over vacant plots are available or were bought and left vacant so if no one come forward to claim the vacant plots, we will repossess it and sell it as available burial plots," he said, adding that burial plots in the cemetery are high in demand.
He said the purpose of the exercise is to put in place a proper management of the cemetery so that the council will have a complete record of those who owned the vacant plots and the contact information of relatives of those who were buried there.
The council is also in the process of upgrading the cemetery including improving the security of the cemetery to prevent vandalism and also to stop it from turning into a drug addicts' haunt.
"The council has allocated RM400,000 to upgrade the cemetery such as building new perimeter fencing, cleaning up the area, getting rid if mosquito breeding grounds and we are also hiring a new caretaker since the previous one has already retired," he said.
The Christian cemetery is probably one of the oldest in the country, dating back to the late 1800s.
The cemetery houses more than 11,000 burial plots and amongst those buried there are 84 Russian soldiers who perished when the Russian ship Zemschug sank off Penang harbour on Oct 28, 1914, British soldiers who died fighting the communists during the Emergency between 1948 and 1960 and Royal Australia Air Force soldiers.
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