FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Minority leader in Trelawny Municipal Corporation (TMC) Councillor Garth Wilkinson (Falmouth Division, People’s National Party) has moved a resolution for an annual fee to be imposed on funeral home operators in Trelawny.

Proceeds from the proposed fee, he said, would go towards the maintenance of public cemeteries in the parish.

However, Wilkinson did not suggest an amount to be levied on the funeral home operators.

There are 18 public cemeteries operated by TMC.

“Be it resolved that all funeral homes pay an annual fee to the corporation, or a fee be levied on the funeral home for each burial, paid to the municipal corporation in keeping with market rates.

And [be it] further resolve[d] to use increased funding to provide proper maintenance and upkeep of the cemeteries under portfolio,” Councillor Wilkinson said in the motion.

“Be it further resolved that this resolution be circulated to the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, the Funeral Directors Association of Jamaica, and all the municipal corporations for their support,” he added.

The resolution was seconded by Councillor Dunstan Harper (Sherwood Content Division, Jamaica Labour Party).

Wilkinson said it costs $11,000 for a burial spot in the Falmouth, Martha Brae, and Duncans cemeteries.

“Whereas burial in other cemeteries outside of these three cost $9,500, and whereas family members of the deceased after the funeral generally do not return to take care of the burial site or surrounding area, members of the public have criticised the local authority for the maintenance of the 18 cemeteries under their care,” he said.

Wilkinson, a former mayor 0f Falmouth, moved the resolution at the regular monthly meeting of TMC in Falmouth last Thursday.

Chief executive officer of TMC, Winston Palmer, who sought to temper any expectations, noted that some amount of due diligence will have to be done before any consideration of the resolution.

“Just to advise on the process: The resolution has to be sent to the Ministry of Local Government. In terms of having them act on the resolution, we will have to be prepared to do a follow-up because, first and foremost, they would send it to their legal department to look at it, and I think maybe they would look at the Public Cemeteries Management Act and the accompanying regulations to see if there is anything inside of those regulations that affect the way we go about it,” Palmer indicated.

Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony for councillors and the mayor at Trelawny Municipal Corporation (TMC) in March, Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie announced that the first allocation of $200 million would be made available for the cleaning of public cemeteries across the country once the new municipal administrations settle down.

Deputy mayor of Falmouth, Councillor Jonathan Bartley noted that the allocation from the local government minister has gone a long way in the cleaning of cemeteries across Trelawny.

Mayor of Falmouth Councillor C Junior Gager thanked the local government minister for the recent allocation of funding to clean public cemeteries in the parish.