Zambo to have own crematorium, columbarium

ZAMBOANGA CITY will finally have its own modern crematorium and columbarium as the local government pushes for its completion in Barangay Mampang.

Mayor Beng Climaco ordered the City Engineering Office to fast track the construction of the facilities following an ocular inspection by City Administrator Mike Saavedra. 

Saavedra, along with engineers Christopher Navarro and Joy Lee and other personnel, inspected the area. The local government also released a set of artist impressions of the crematorium and columbarium. 

City Administrator Mike Saavedra inspects the ongoing works in Barangay Mampang where the local government is constructing a crematorium and a columbarium. (Images: City Govt.)

A crematorium is a venue for the cremation of the dead. Modern crematoria contain at least one cremator, a purpose-built furnace. In many countries, crematoria contain facilities for funeral ceremonies, such as a chapel. A columbarium or columbary vault, on the other hand, is a structure for the storage of the urns that hold the ashes of the deceased. It is an alternative for a memorial lot interment where the deceased is interred.

The facilities have been in the plan since 2018 after City Councilor Jimmy Villaflores pushed for the establishment of a local government-owned crematorium and columbarium.

Saavedra also inspected the public cemeteries in Barangay Mampang and Talabaan to personally look into its operation and other concerns. The two cemeteries are being used as burial sites of Covid-19 related deaths. He said Climaco ordered the City Engineering Office to clean the cemeteries. (Zamboanga Post)