PUTRAJAYA, June 3 — The cost of cremating the dead is expected to increase significantly when the government reviews the charges for public crematoriums soon.

Deputy Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk M. Saravanan said the cremation fee charged by government-managed crematoriums was low compared with the fee charged at privately-managed crematoriums.

According to Saravanan, the cremation fee at public crematoriums was RM100 compared with RM500 at private crematoriums.

“Based on the RM100 fee, the government has to subsidise RM400 for every cremated body and this is the cost based on 20 or 30 years ago.

“The time has come for the government to raise the fee to may be RM200 or RM300, to overcome the cost of maintaining and managing such crematoriums,” he told reporters after visiting the Putrajaya Crematorium here today.

He added that the government was also considering reserving special plots for the burial of dignitaries, especially at Hindu cemeteries, since there was no such allocation.

The Putrajaya Cemetery at Presint 20 comprises an area of 87.457 hectares, with 59.32 hectares allocated for a Muslim cemetery and 24.857 hectares for non-Muslim cemeteries. — Bernama