THE ugly behaviour of “unruly” gun-toting mourners has led to at least two privately operated burial venues in St Catherine refusing to conduct funerals on weekends and some funeral homes following suit, even though the Government has lifted restrictions on burials which had been imposed as part of the COVID-19 containment measures.

Since 2020, funerals, which were traditionally held on Saturdays and Sundays, were only being permitted on Monday to Friday between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm. In March the restrictions were lifted in full as cases of the novel coronavirus in the island diminished.

But president of the Jamaica Association of Certified Embalmers and Funeral Directors Calvin Lyn, in an interview with the Jamaica Observer, said weekday burials might very well become part of the new norm, not just because they are easier on industry players, but because of rowdy behaviour among some mourners.

“What they tell me is that there is less strain than when you have a cluster on a particular Saturday. It is easier to have the services on a weekday because you have five days rather than just Saturday and Sundays. When the Government imposed the restrictions, it worked very well. It is more pressure [when the majority of funerals are held on the weekend days],” Lyn said.

“Some churches will agree to a Saturday or Sunday funeral if they are using the family plot, church cemetery or the cemeteries operated by the municipal corporations, but the main private cemeteries are not accommodating interments on a Saturday or Sunday,” Lyn told the Observer.

Noting that the new situation is “better for the families” of people in the industry, Lyn said it would also address the crowding which used to take place at burial sites.

A source employed to one of the venues told the Observer that complaints from the workers had played a hand in the decision by the management of that facility.

“The main reason [we are] not doing funerals on weekends any more is too much problem on a Sunday, too much gunman and too much problem one time,” the individual claimed.

“Too much a dem deh deh; most a dem come pon Sunday, too much a dem at that time, so we find out if you have them spread out over a five-day period it easier. So, less of them at any given time, that it’s the main reason that Meadowrest not doing any more Saturday or Sunday,” the source said.

Asked to describe the nature of the ‘problems’, he said, “Any time them come deh a problem funeral because them want do fi dem own thing and a one bag a problem. Disrespect, all kinda problem, waan lick the workers so every problem we have up there cause from one a dem funeral deh.

“That a di main man reason we naw accept none. Better we have them spread over a five-day period; management look into it and see seh a real thing,” the individual told the Observer.

He also said while some funeral directors tended to act in less than desirable ways at times, the main issues are created by the “mourners”.

The accusation against funeral directors was corroborated by Lyn.

“One of the things, in especially St Catherine, some of these so-called funeral operators are unruly. One or two of them drew their firearms from time to time. I am sure you have heard, they are not dignified, they are not uplifting the profession, they are not trained, they are hooligans, in my view,” Lyn told the Observer.

Meanwhile, Michael Jones, operator of Jones Funeral Home and Supplies, told the Observer that he has no restrictions on which day to accommodate funerals.

“I am burying every day, any day possible, the customers want. Our customers are grieving, and we don’t want to make it harder for them. A lot of people want to show respect to their family and friends and they can’t go because they have to be at work. Our culture, we normally bury any day, but our Jamaican people look forward to a Saturday or a Sunday,” he said.

“Looking at it through a funeral director’s eyes it is much easier for us because, for example, we can have 10 funerals for the week but when we only have five Saturdays or five Sundays sometimes it’s hard. What we sometimes have to do is get additional drivers and even rent vehicles. But when you have during the week you do two-two funerals and you use only one hearse, so the funeral homes benefit that way, but what about those persons who are depending on a Saturday/Sunday work to feed their families, we have to balance the thing,” he said further.

Added Jones, “Meadowrest and Dovecot are saying they no longer bury any deceased on a Saturday and Sunday. What I know that does for them is it takes the pressure off the staff. That is a plus for Meadowrest and Dovecot, it is also a plus for the funeral directors who can only do two-two a day. But what about the [people] who are grieving? So, we have to try and balance it. So whichever day they choose, and the cemeteries are open, we try to accommodate the family members.”

Joseph Cornwall, managing director House of Tranquillity Funeral Home in the Corporate Area, said he accommodates the wishes of grieving families.

“It is not what is better for us but whatever the bereaved family chooses. We work with them. So any day they choose we are okay with it. We have funerals on weekends still; whatever the family requires we work with them,” he said. “Weekends might be crowded at the cemeteries, but whatever the family requires we work with them.”