During  a recent press conference hosted by the GenSan City Mayor’s Office, Mayor Jun Acharon announced the city’s plan to improve the Uhaw Public Cemetery located at Barangay Fatima, beside the highway leading to the airport.

The Uhaw Public Cemetery (named after the desert-like barren district where it is situated), is the city’s biggest public cemetery, at 5.9 hectares and has been existing for over twenty years now, since the closing down of the old Alunan Cemetery in downtown Dadiangas.

Due to the city’s ever-growing populace, and with it, the increasing number of natural deaths among the sick and the aged, Uhaw has gotten too crowded and cluttered.  As proof, this is how it looks from above, in this aerial photo provided by the City Housing and Land Management Office.

An aerial view of the Uhaw Public Cemetery. The National Highway is at the left side.
“An aerial view of the Uhaw Public Cemetery. The National Highway is at the left side.”

Thus, City Mayor Jun Acharon designated a Task Force to handle the improvement of the Uhaw Public Cemetery, which will get a new name – the General Santos City Memorial Park.  The offices assigned to implement their plans are the City Mayor’s Office, the City Housing and Land Management Office, the City General Services Office and the City Health Office.

Eventually, the group came out with a proposal, which will require a capitalization of P22 million for the initial phase. Below are artist’s renditions of the new General Santos City Memorial Park.

Top view of the proposed Gen. Santos City Memorial Park
Top view of the proposed Gen. Santos City Memorial Park

This time, the new cemetery will have wider access roads around and within the vicinity.  The existing skeletal remains of the departed there will be transferred to rest in apartment-type niches, twin-type layer niches, or double-type niches.  Same with the new ones.

There will also be a bone chamber for unclaimed or unidentified skeletal remains.

For the Muslims, the Mayor has also identified a portion of the cemetery for their dead at the rear-end of the property.

The proposed GenSan City Memorial Park

“The proposed GenSan City Memorial Park”

For those who can afford it, lots are available for chapel-type mausoleums, like the one below:

Design of a Chapel Mausoleum for the proposed Gen. Santos City Memorial Park

“Design of a Chapel Mausoleum for the proposed Gen. Santos City Memorial Park”

And of course, being a memorial park, it should have a gate which must look like this:

The Gate of the proposed General Santos Memorial Park.

“The Gate of the proposed General Santos Memorial Park.”

So there.  Let us just hope that this plan comes into fruition soonest possible to give the average “general” an affordable and presentable resting place for himself and his loved ones.  Kudos to the city government for this project.

So now, first question?

Your queries may be sent here and answered by the office involved within the next 48 hours or so.