Cemeteries to go high-tech

16 June 2012 06:01 am Views - 4916

Cemeteries in Colombo will go high tech shortly with plans being drawn up for a computer data base of plot owners in a bid to stop illegal transfers which have been taking place for almost a century.

Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) Chief Medical Officer Dr. Pradeep Kariyawasam said this would help the council to trace the actual owners without much difficulty. He said the CMC decided on this move because thousands of plot owners had transferred their plots to others without notifying the Council.

Dr. Kariyawasam said most of the owners do not follow the correct procedure of obtaining the approval of the legal officer. He said it was an essential requirement for those who wanted to transfer their plots to inform those in charge of the particular cemetery and have the transfer papers sent to the legal officer for approval. Dr. Kariyawasam said some of the plots had been sold nearly 100 years ago while no plots had been purchased from the General Cemetery Kanatte since 1952. He said illegal transfers had been taking place for decades. (Yohan Perera)