voices from the grave

if you've read my previous post here, you would've known about this cemetery issue. i have not yet made up my mind on which side of the fence i would like to be on so i will offer no opinion yet. but there's another article in thebintang here that made me wanted to comment so much on that article.

Group in favour of cemetery “Construction of the cemetery began in the middle of last month and will be completed in phases,” Alpadzul said. “Construction for Phase One will be completed in two months and the burial plots fully occupied in two years. Part of it can already be used (for burial) and its first ‘occupant’, a 52-year-old lady, was buried today at 5pm.” Phase One covers five acres and will be able to accommodate 1,500 burial plots. There will be five phases altogether.”

i just hope people constructing the cemetery won't be trampling over the first occupant. let her rest in peace. and what time did this guy gave his statement again?

“The cemetery will cover a 50-acre space. There will also be a 30-metre buffer zone surrounding it,” Shakir said. “The cemetery is actually located 40m from the nearest residential area as there’s a road covering a 10m distance before the 30m buffer zone. This forest (where the cemetery is located) was originally 1,000 acres in size. The cemetery will only occupy 50 acres, while the remaining 840 acres will remain as a botanic park. The buffer zone, which includes the botanic park, will have some existing and new trees. We'll try to minimise the effect on the existing natural environment as possible.”

that is a really huge swath of land to build a cemetery. not fun to get lost in the cemetery alone when it is fully occupied. and if my arithmetics is correct, he conveniently forgot to mention what is going to happen to another 110 acres of forest reserve. that is more than 10% of the existing forest.

Shakir said the cemetery’s construction costs about RM10mil in total, which will be borne by the state government.

and quite a lot of money to spend too. any quantity surveyors would like to second that figure? wonder what they'll do with the money they get from chopping down the existing trees.

“This cemetery is not only for those residing in Kota Damansara but for all in the Petaling district. It's currently in the process of being gazetted. We estimate that this cemetery will be fully occupied in 10 years’ time, based on the average of two to three deaths a day, he said.

10 years only? there goes my chance of going there due to old age then. unless i meet my lights out much earlier than the average life span of males in this bolehland.

“We'll also create a website with e-commerce features. This will help facilitate communication and allow us to handle issues better. The website will also have updates of the cemetery’s ‘occupants’.”

didn't know that trading among the dead will be the in-thing in the future? or the living relatives need to do bidding for the plots? and hey! at least i'm assured of a way to still submit entries to my blog while lying down six-feet under.

while we are at it, i'll quote another article, still on thebintang published the day before, about the possible loss of biological life related to this project.

Zoo rushes to save aquatic plant PETALING JAYA: News of land marking within the Kota Damansara has sent Zoo Negara staff scrambling to save an endangered aquatic plant. The zoo’s assistant curator of Aquarium Tunku Abdul Rahman led a team to collect the Cryptocoryne minima from an undisclosed site in the forest that is part of the Sg Buloh Forest Reserve believed to be earmarked for a mixed development project.

now you know why i haven't made up my mind to whom i should side, being an all-time self-proclaimed greenie.