Nine (9) mile cemetery outside Port Moresby city is about full to its capacity, but sadly relatives of the dead continue bring their loved ones in the hope of giving them a decent resting place in what is already an overcrowded cemetery.
Financial difficulties and high costs involved in the repatriation of the dead back to their home provinces is one sad reality that determines the final resting place for their loved ones, but one candidates has raised his hand to support the struggling families in the city if given a chance to be their leader when the country goes to the polls.
“Everyone is racing to grab a piece of the land at the famous 9 mile cemetery and very soon we will have nowhere else to bury the dead,” said Ben Dangima , a Liberal Party Candidate currently vying for NCD Regional seat.
Mr. Dangima said, for one to take a dead body back home is a very expensive exercise, and it is sad to see that we still have mass burials from time to time all because family members do not have the money to buy coffins and burial space.
He said one of his policies is to help families repatriate dead bodies from Port Moresby back to their homes.
“Not every family has the luxury to repatriate their dead relative back to their homes, but when I get into power we will put this policy in place and I will make it mandatory to help every family send their dead loved ones home,” said Mr. Dangima.
“I want us to do away with ‘haus krai’s’ because it’s a very expensive exercise, and we cannot spend all our savings and start from scratch again.”
Mr Dangima said when he becomes the NCD Governor, he will see to it that NCD will buy 22 ambulances for each provinces which will be stationed at every airport to transport the caskets from the airport home to the village.
“When someone dies, you come to our NCD office show us the Corona papers, and we take it from there, from the morgue all the way to your home province and village all in a space of one week,” said Mr Dangima.
“NCD will pay for all the expenses including the airfares of a guardian to travel with the body, while the other expenses for the traditional haus krai and other obligations is yours to take care of but the dead body’s expenses are NCD’s to take care of.’’
He said the monies to meet the expenses will come out of the public purse from PSIP, DSIP and GST funds which belongs to the people.
Mr Dangima reiterated that there is no more space left at the nine (9) mile cemetery and its time now to send bodies back home.
“We want to develop the city and with more settlements popping up around the cemetery, area there is no more space to expand the cemetery.