Hasselt (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Hasselt placed a reused bus shelter in its cemetery parking lot for maintenance staff, mainly smokers, to take breaks. Team leader Wouter Smeets confirmed its purpose. The solar-powered lights amusingly turn on at 5 a.m.
A bus shelter has been added to the parking lot of the Hasselt cemetery. According to the officials, it’s not for visitors. It’s for the maintenance staff who smoke. About half of the team smokes. They needed a place to go during bad weather.
They mentioned that the cemetery doesn’t have many places where they could smoke without bothering visitors. The city put the bus shelter in the parking lot so the workers have a place to smoke. It’s also a place for them to take a break when it’s raining.
Wouter Smeets says,
The shelter was placed there for the smokers among our colleagues. About half of the maintenance people smoke. But there are few or no places in the cemetery to take shelter in bad weather. To give the smokers a place, we placed the shelter. That way they don’t disturb anyone else.
Why does Hasselt’s Hemelrijk bus shelter light up at 5 A.M.?
According to Wouter Smeet, the bus shelter in the cemetery parking lot is a funny sight. People are talking about it. Some find it amusing because there appears to be a bus service to the cemetery presently. Others find it amusing because it’s in a cemetery. They are considering amusing titles for it, such as “Hemelrijk,” which means “Kingdom of Heaven.” Even though it’s a bit unusual, the bus shelter is useful for the workers.
According to the officials, The bus shelter in the cemetery parking lot wasn’t bought new. It came from the city’s warehouse. The city keeps old bus shelters in the warehouse when they’re not needed anymore. The city found a new use for this one. They gave it to the cemetery workers to use as a break area.
They mentioned that this way, the workers have a place to go when it’s raining or cold. It’s also a place for them to smoke without bothering visitors. The city didn’t have to buy a new shelter, so it saved money. Now, the workers can take breaks without disturbing people visiting the cemetery.
Bus shelters are the property of the municipalities, including the city of Hasselt,
Smeets explains.
Some people visiting the cemetery early in the morning were surprised to see the lights in the bus shelter turn on at 5 a.m. They thought maybe there were ghosts. But the cemetery worker, Wouter Smeets, explained that the lights turn on automatically because the bus shelter has a solar panel and a battery.
He mentioned that the lights are connected to the bus service schedule, so they turn on when the buses start running. Smeets laughed about the spooky coincidence. He said there are no ghosts, just a new, energy-saving bus shelter.
