Confusion and clutter come to mind on first sight of Leith Hall Cemetery in St Thomas.

Graves, placed less than an inch apart, form steps for people to navigate the terrain’s steep slope, as there is no defined pathway. Additionally, the absence of a perimeter wall has resulted in graves being dug perilously close to the road, which also faces the threat of loose soil spilling from the cemetery.

Located east of Morant Bay, the cemetery, operated by the St Thomas Municipal Corporation, spans approximately two acres of land. The sign at the entrance is defaced by graffiti that reads ‘JLP’ in green spray paint.

“I just don’t want them carry no more graves in the road. They weren’t supposed to come so far with these. You see how far them gone wid them yah?” a resident who lives close to the cemetery told the Jamaica Observer, pointing to graves at the edge of the road.

“It needs fencing off, it needs sanitary convenience and water. They are going into the road with the graves and you suppose to maintain a certain amount of distance from the grave to the road. But the cemetery not under any great management, no supervision,” he added.

The concern was common among other residents who said that on multiple occasions they have contacted the St Thomas Municipal Corporation to have a wall constructed.

“We’re tired of reaching out to them… [so] we just stop,” said another resident.

He said that recent work to clean the front of cemetery will result in loose earth crumbling onto the road.

“We need a wall,” he insisted, arguing that if a fence is not erected, “Next thing you [will] see [is] bones out [on] the road.”

Councillor Dinsdale Smith (People’s National Party, Port Morant Division) told the Sunday Observer that he is well aware of the need for a wall at the cemetery and other complaints made by the residents.

“I’ve been making representation, making inquiries to find out exactly where along the progress chain we are regarding further development of the infrastructure that supports the cemetery activities. I’ve gotten hopeful responses, so there seems to be a desire for further development,” said Smith.

However, he noted that the municipal corporation does not have adequate funds to improve the aesthetic of the burial ground.

In March this year, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Desmond McKenzie announced the first allocation of $200 million for the cleaning of 39 public cemeteries across the country.

However, Smith said that “the conditions that those cemeteries are in, right across the board, are of such that it is a stretch to get them cleaned with that budget. What we don’t recognise is that $200 million is not a lot relative to the number of cemeteries we have and the amount of land space that they take up. Everything costs, so we have to be aware and conscious of the reality of these costs”.

Just like the defaced sign at the entrance that made it difficult to identify the cemetery, some graves lacked headstones or markers with the names of the deceased, no doubt making it harder for family members to locate their loved ones.

Among other concerns raised by residents was the lack of a bathroom and running water at the burial ground.

“The bathroom is needed because when people come to the cemetery there’s no bathroom, they keep going into people’s houses to borrow the bathroom and that isn’t good,” said another resident.

“The people reach out to the councillor, them reach out to parish council and them nah do nothing, them only a promise. No water, no sanitary convenience, and hundreds of people come there,” the residents added.

Addressing these concerns, Councillor Smith said that bathroom facilities for the cemetery as well as plans to improve the overall aesthetics of the grounds are some of the things that have been discussed.

He also made note of the closely packed graves that make it difficult for visitors to manoeuvre the burial ground and criticised designers of the cemetery for the confusing and clustered state.

“Considerations should have been given to make the density not so jammed with a view of providing more user friendly spaces. As far as I am concerned, it would be nice to see an area set aside for a chapel, sanitary conveniences, and maybe even have sections within the cemeteries where one can sit and be meditative,” Smith said, adding that he will see how best these issues can be addressed.

While the cemetery was cleaned and free of overgrown bush or garbage when the Sunday Observer visited on April 18, residents who live close by said this is not the usual state of the graveyard.

“Unuh come when them just clean it; normally it worse than this,” one resident said, adding that graves are often covered in foliage and the ground is always littered with garbage left by people attending funerals.

“A the first me a see it so clean,” said another resident.

“The garbage just pile up every time them have grave digging on Wednesdays, and you a talk ’bout hundreds of people sometimes come funeral and everybody just a drop them litter and then the breeze just take it and drop it all over the place. You come when it look clean now. But it still have a way to go,” said another resident.