The local government of Manila is set to build a columbarium inside Manila North Cemetery for the free use of the poorest city residents.
This was announced last week by Mayor Joseph Estrada, who said an additional 3,000 apartment-type crypts would also be constructed.
City engineer Roberto Bernardo said the bidding for the columbarium project contract would be held in the second week of February and construction may start in the last week of that month.
It will rise on a 2,000-square-meter lot at the corner of A. Bonifacio Avenue and Blumentritt Road, where the present crematorium and morgue are located, and should accommodate up to 6,720 urns, he added.
The city government has allotted around P90 million for the columbarium and the crypt projects, as well as for the conversion of the morgue into a funeral parlor, he said.
Once the columbarium is complete, families of the deceased can hold the wake there for three days free of charge, with the city government also shouldering the cost of the lighting, flowers and the urn for the ashes, the mayor said.
Bernardo also disclosed that City Hall was also looking into building a columbarium at South Cemetery, which is located in Makati City but managed by Manila.
An unsolicited proposal for a joint venture agreement on this second columbarium is currently being reviewed.