Visitors to cemetery urged to throw rubbish at designated spots
KUCHING: The condition of a cemetery at 7th Mile here is being monitored by the Catholic Church Cemetery Ministry committee.
This was the assurance given by its chairman Peter Wong who revealed that the cemetery, unofficially named Sacred Heart Church Cemetery, was being cleaned once a month.
“We have been maintaining the cemetery, sending a worker to dispose of the rubbish there. In fact, the worker cleaned the cemetery two days ago.
“But visitors to the cemetery have been indiscriminately throwing rubbish all over the graveyard,” Wong complained to The Borneo Post yesterday.
He was asked for his comments after the public cried foul over the deplorable condition of the cemetery with many parts unkempt and littered with garbage.
An observer informed The Borneo Post that the management committee disposed of the rubbish, but the filthy condition would revert within a week.
Wong said the festive season brought in more visitors to the cemetery than usual.
“In November, we had Old Souls’ Day and in December, the Christmas season brought many relatives to visit the cemetery.
“This month, we just had New Year’s Day and soon it will be Chinese New Year followed by ‘Ching Ming’ ( Chinese Tomb Festival) usually in March or April. So these few months, there will be more rubbish than normal,” he said.
He urged visitors to help the management committee by throwing rubbish at designated spots to facilitate the cleaning up of the graveyard.
“We clean the cemetery once a month but visitors come and start throwing rubbish again.
“It would be great if visitors can help us by throwing their rubbish at the dumpsite so that when our worker comes, the rubbish can be removed easily,” he said.
On the bright side, the cemetery will be fenced by this year, Wong disclosed.
“This is to prevent intruders from entering the cemetery. We plan to do it this year and are calling for a quotation.”