Penelehhistory.com: Surabaya (2/8/24) – The Surabaya City Government is carrying out improvements to the Peneleh European Cemetery in the “Peneleh as a Living Library” project. Four housing units that stood in a row near the Cemetery gate have been demolished. This demolition provides free viewing access to the gate again facing straight onto Makam Peneleh Road. Then the residents are moved to available housing.
Historical Significance of Peneleh Cemetery
This road connects Makam and the Kalimas River, which was once the river traffic that connected Peneleh and the old town of Surabaya. This project is running for the 2024 budget, funded by DutchCulture and supported by the Surabaya City Government and the University of Tujuh Belas Agustus (Untag) Surabaya.
Current Restoration Progress
So far, physically, there has been an arrangement of the tomb corridors which have been converted into grassy corridors. Cleaning of 8 selected graves and posting of markers in the form of information boards at each of the 8 selected graves.
Planned Reconstruction
Apart from that, it is planned that there will be a reconstruction of the Cemetery gate which will be made according to the original. For this reason, the houses attached to the wall close to the gate were dismantled. As a result, when viewed from a distance on Jalan Makam Peneleh, the position of the Cemetery gate looks straight at the end of Jalan Makam Peneleh.
City Government’s Commitment
The demolition of the house, which was attached to the Cemetery wall, is a clear manifestation of the city government’s seriousness in restoring the European cemetery which opened in 1847. The Surabaya City Government supports a joint project, which is managed by communities in both countries, Begandring Soerabaia (Surabaya) and TiMe Amsterdam (Amsterdam). Namely the project to make Peneleh a Living Library.
Visit from Dutch Ambassador
This project was visited on Tuesday (30/7/24) by the Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia, Lambert Grijns, who was accompanied by the Honorary Dutch Consul in Surabaya, Lily Jessica and the Dutch RCE Staff, Remco Vermeulen. Ambassador Lambert Grijns said he was proud of the joint efforts to preserve the Peneleh European Cemetery.
Future Plans
Meanwhile, Dutch partners, Max Meijer and Petra Timmer from TiMe Amsterdam plan to come and review the Peneleh project in October 2024, which is considered to have entered the fourth quarter of the work period where in November 2024 the project should be completed. (PH/Nang)
