MP: Cemetery needs proper planning, records

By GLORIA BAUAI
LAE city needs a properly planned cemetery with inventory and names of the people buried there, says MP John Rosso.
Rosso said the city council had lost all the books and cemetery records.
But, he said plans were in place to fence the cemetery area which extended from the main Busu Road to the University of Technology’s boundary.
Local landowner Nalau Agi, of the Luhu clan of Kamkumung, has welcomed the news.
Agi, however, said the city authority and MP should meet him to identify the land boundaries clearly.
He claimed the cemetery was still on customary land and as custodians they were never compensated accordingly for the use of the land.
Agi said he had attempted to sort the issue with Rosso, who was also Lands and Physical Planning Minister, but a meeting had not eventuated.
“To my knowledge, a survey of this area took place only in 2017 despite the cemetery existing for decades prior,” he said.
“If they do have a title, I want to see it (title) to know where their boundary ends; but if they are on customary land as I said, then we must be compensated accordingly before any further development.
“If I dispute this and put a stop to their extension, it will affect the whole city.”
Cemeteries of urban villages like Butibam were being used to accommodate for an overflow from Second Seven Cemetery and locals have over the years complained that the city authority should address this issue.
“There is a lot of vacant land still available at the current city cemetery at Second Seven which we’ll use and plan properly but we will have to fence it first,” Rosso said.