The Prime Minister's Department has been asked to explain the redevelopment of the Sungai Besi cemetery, widely considered as a historical site which include among others, the grave of Kapitan Cina Yap Ah Loy.

The development project was "put on hold" last year and reported to resume shortly.

Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (SCAH) Youth Section said that Kuala Lumpur mayor Kamaruzzaman Shariff had announced last year that the cemetery at Sungai Besi will not be moved to make way for commercial redevelopment.

However, the developer was reported to have met the BN members of Parliament in Kuala Lumpur yesterday to promote the relocation of the cemetery. Opposition MPs were, however, not invited to attend.

SCAH Youth deputy chief Tan Ah Chai said restricting the invitation to the BN MPs to the briefing has caused suspicion among the public.

"The briefing shows that the redevelopment project has not been halted at all," he added.

Nanyang Siang Pau today reported that Kwangtung Association, which runs part of the cemetery jointly with six other organisations, was also not informed of the briefing.

SCAH urged the Economic Planning Unit in the Prime Minister's Department to announce the details of the project to protect the interests of the public.

The Sungai Besi cemetery has been established since 1895.

The cemetery encompasses the Kwangtung cemetery, Kwangsi cemetery, Fukien cemetery, Japanese cemetery (built in 1899), Roman Catholic cemetery, Sri Lanka Buddhist cemetery, and Hindu and Sikh incinerators.

SCAH stated that the Sungai Besi cemetery is evidence of the history and cultural diversity of Kuala Lumpur.

"This is our collective heritage of Malaysians, we cannot measure it in terms of economic value," it added.

SCAH noted that the Prime Minister's Department should not ignore the protests of the Chinese community against the redevelopment project.

Till now, it was learned that most of the associations, like the biggest cemetery management Kwangtung Association - who owns over 30,000 cemetery plots there - and others have rejected the proposed move of the cemetery to a new location in Semenyih.

However, the Fukien Association had signed an agreement with Pribena Construction on April 20, 1998 to move to Semenyih.

One condition of the agreement is that if the relocation is not done within three years, in agreement with others similarly affected, the Fukien Association has the right to cancel the agreement.

It is learned that similar agreements have been offered to all the associations and management parties involved, but have been rejected by them.