Cemetery ‘caretakers’ upset with eviction order

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Chong (right) studies a map with (from left) Razam, Ismail and Chong’s special assistant Abdul Aziz Isa.

KUCHING: Over the last four decades, the late Litu Sudat and his family took care of the Muslim cemetery at Jalan Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce here.

Now the family of 17 has been issued an eviction order by the state Islamic Welfare Trust Board.

Back in the 60s, Litu lived in Kampung Kudei at Jalan Nanas Barat but upon the board’s request moved to Lot 192, Section 208, Kuching North Land District, where the family presently resides.

According to his second son Ismail, the family never received any allowance from the board for taking care of the cemetery,

so they find it hard to accept that they have been ordered to move out within two weeks of Feb 1.

Met at the house adjacent to the cemetery yesterday, both Ismail and Litu’s youngest son Mohd Razam stressed that the family expected resettlement from the board and the state government.

They voiced their needs through Democratic Action Party (DAP) state chairman Chong Chieng Jen, who is Bandar Kuching Member of Parliament and Kota Sentosa assemblyman.

Chong said Litu’s family had kept the cemetery tidy and prevented squatters from erecting houses on the land between the 60s and 2008.

In 2008, he said an unauthorised excavation of the graves was done by a contractor appointed by the board.

Litu’s family then immediately informed the descendants of those buried there, which stopped the excavation work.

“Otherwise, all the graves in the cemetery would have been excavated. Now, Litu’s family is facing an eviction order taken up by the board,” he said.

At present, five of Litu’s 10 children and their families live on the land along with eight grandchildren.

“They have no place to go and no means to move from the land. They have been taking care of the cemetery since the 60s, so we ask that the board have compassion on the family,” said Chong.

It is understood that the family has appealed to the board and the state government for a plot of land and money to build a house.

“Why does the board insist on the eviction when it has not opened up new plots from the said lot for burial since 2008? Is the board planning to sell the land for development? What then will happen to the existing graves?” questioned Chong.

He said a land search with the Kuching Land Registry Office discovered that the board had applied for the subdivision of the cemetery land into three plots namely Lot 275, 276 and 277.

“The whole of Lot 192 is ‘to be used as a burial ground only’. With such condition, why is there the need to subdivide the land unless the board intends to sell or develop the land, either way, it runs contrary to the land use of Lot 192.

“The board must be answerable to the people on its plan to subdivide the land. The board is in no shortage of money, why is there the need to sell cemetery land for profit? The ultimate question is, what will happen to the existing graves?.”