SPANISH TOWN, St Catherine – A number of families in St Catherine have reportedly been burying their loved ones at home because half of the public cemeteries in the parish are full to capacity.

But acting chief public health inspector Ewarton Francis has warned that it’s against the law to bury within the town limit.

“There should be no backyard burials as that must be confined to a cemetery,” Francis said.

However, he noted that there were instances where people sought permission to bury their loved ones in family lots. In such cases, Francis said the health department would do an inspection to determine if the burials would affect the water supply. “Based on our findings, we would make the necessary recommendations,” he said.

The public health inspector explained that the St Catherine water table – especially in Spanish Town – was high that backyard burials were not recommended as seepage would take place, contaminating the water supply and affectng the coliform level.

Meanwhile, the St Catherine Parish Council (SCPC) has mandated the St Catherine Health Department to launch an immediate investigation into the report to determine whether the backyard burials were affecting the level of faecal coliform of the water table.

The council has also decided to seek a meeting with Local Government Minister Dean Peart, requesting the provision of adequate lands to establish cemeteries to replace those that are closed.

Four of the eight public cemeteries – Spanish Town, Ewarton, Church Pen and Lluidas Vale- have all been closed, while the others reportedly have limited spaces.

Meanwhile, a number of councillors who have been complaining bitterly that backyard internment was unhealthy have called on government to provide additional space for public cemeteries in the parish. They say most of the cemeteries were either full or nearing capacity. Councillor Gerval Weir of Church Pen division pointed out, for example, that the 27-year-old Church Pen cemetery had only seven burial spots left.

“Right now people can hardly find space to bury their dead there. From my investigation, there are only seven grave spaces left and by all probability (it) will be utilised before the end of the month,” he told last month’s SCPC general meeting.

“Already, Mr Chairman, relatives are burying their dead in their yard and this is not healthy for anyone. And as you well know, such action by residents is also an offence against the Parish Council Act,” Weir continued, adding that backyard burial was rampant in townships where public cemeteries were closed.

“In this day and age, only the poorer class of people use public cemetery because they have no money to use private cemetery,” Weir added.

Ewarton Councillor Daphnie Ritchie noted that the Ewarton cemetery was full, and that pleas for a new facility had fallen on deaf ears.

“There is an adjoining property to the cemetery in Ewarton that we have began to use for burial,” she explained. “That piece of land is for government. It was donated to the parish council by the late custos McGrath, and it is not being used…so we have been using it for our cemetery over four years now. So far, no one has prevented us from doing so,” she told the council meeting.

Weir, meanwhile, explained that because of the closure of the Spanish Town cemetery, additional pressure had been placed on the Church Pen cemetery. According to him, not only was that cemetery being utilised by people in Spanish Town and surrounding communities, but by residents in Clarendon. He also pointed out that the increase in the number of new housing developments had contributed to the need for additional cemetery space. Weir cited a 300-acre plot of government land at Tedford property, which adjoins the Church Pen cemetery, arguing that between 15 to 20 acres of this land would be adequate for a new cemetery.

But SCPC secretary/manager, Michael Morris, expressed pessimism, saying there would be no new cemetery at Church Pen in the near future.

“Church Pen people will not get a cemetery anytime soon, and will have to continue to use backyard burial,” Morris remarked. He was, however, quick to point out that the council was not advocating “home burial” as it was a breach of the Public Cemeteries and Town and Planning Country Act.

He said further that the council did not have the funds to build new cemeteries. In fact, he pointed out that the council would need to acquire at least 40 acres of land and millions of dollars to construct a new cemetery at Church Pen.

Morris, meanwhile, is advocating that to create additional burial spaces, graves between 20 and 35 years-old could be opened, bones exhumed and placed inside a single grave.

“The procedure has been done in other cemeteries here in Jamaica, and it is not very expensive. If push comes to shove, that’s an option – although not a position of the (parish) council – we could consider,” Morris added.