Channel NewsAsia 19 Mar 09;
SINGAPORE: 10,000 graves in Choa Chu Kang (CCK) Chinese Cemetery will be exhumed from March 21.
The affected graves are at Blocks 4, 5 and 6 and date back to between 1968 and 1978.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) says this comes under the phase three exhumation programme, in line with the government's policy of limiting the burial period of all graves to 15 years.
It has been exhuming graves at the Choa Chu Kang cemetery in phases since December 2004.
The NEA is encouraging next-of-kin who wish to claim the remains to do so early.
They can also make claims for the remains of other family members buried outside Blocks 4, 5 and 6 on or before March 21, 1994.
Exhumation of the graves will start after registration of claims.
All unclaimed graves will be exhumed in June 2010.
NEA says signboards will be displayed at the cemetery to indicate the location of graves to be exhumed under phase three.
In the coming Qing Ming festival, its officers will be on site to provide pamphlets and the necessary forms to visiting next-of-kin.
For more information, the public can call the CCK exhumation hotline at (65) 679-555-11 or visit the website at www.nea.gov.sg/cckexhumation.
- CNA/yt
