Op-Ed Contributors

Debate: Cemeteries

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-04-06 08:03

Yang Junfeng

Grave shortage needs human solution

China today faces a grave problem: a dearth of cemeteries. And the problem is deepening with the country's aging population.

According to official figures, the past few years have seen about 70 million square meters of land being turned into burial grounds across the country every year. But burial grounds are still far from enough, partly because of strict government control over land.

The problem is not unique to China. Almost all countries face it, and the reason for that is simple: demand for burial sites is unending but land is limited.

Besides, traditional belief or superstition, call it what you will, prevents people from living anywhere near a cemetery. This problem, though universal, is felt more severely in China and prevents authorities from earmarking areas for cemeteries close to human habitation. Hence, the government has to deal with the problem through a systematic mechanism.

First, the government has to respect the centuries-old tradition of inhumation and demarcate more land for cemeteries. And though such areas can be earmarked on barren or arid land, it is not always possible to do so in most cities and towns and even some rural regions.

Perhaps, local governments should share part of the blame for the shortage of land for graveyards, because they hardly leave land to be used for such purposes. Some local governments don't like allocating land for cemeteries, because they are not profitable in their GDP-focused development plans. Such local governments should allocate abundant land for graveyards.

Second, the authorities should see cemeteries, especially demarcating land for new ones, as a public welfare and not as an economic project. Since urban land is State-owned and local governments control its supply, the authorities are obliged to meet people's needs.

But unfortunately, the "economic affordable graveyards" reflect a worrying trend. They may ease the economic burden of some departed souls' families, but they are far from enough to meet the needs of all the families.

In fact, the number of such government-approved tombs is so few that people ultimately have to pay much higher prices for them.

Local governments should be duty-bound to provide enough space for all families to bury their loved ones. Moreover, burial charges should be affordable for all families and low-income groups should be exempted from paying any charge at all.

Third, the authorities should make more efforts to plan for the future. Cemeteries in cities are more often than not scattered, which result in a great waste of land. So instead of demarcating land for small cemeteries, the authorities should plan large ones to prevent waste of land, which is becoming increasingly precious with each passing day. But they have to be careful not to earmark land for cemeteries in areas where land price is high or can become high in the near future. They should also be careful not to turn cultivable land into cemeteries.

It is important that the authorities make enough land available for cemeteries, but people should also try to reduce their dependence on graveyards. Perhaps, they could opt for columbaria (vaults with niches for urns containing ashes of the dead), or tree burials. Besides, tombs should be reusable after a certain number of years, though unknown ones should be handled humanely.

The author is a research scholar with the School of Law, Chinese People's Public Security University.