SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — Councillor Ian Myles (Jamaica Labour Party, Little London Division) has raised concerns about the number of exhumations being requested in Westmoreland recently.

“Why can’t we just let the dead rest?” Myles asked during Thursday’s monthly meeting of the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation (WMC).

He said the word exhumation is being repeated too often.

“Is there a justified reason for wanting to disturb the dead?” the councillor queried.

Myles argued that there should be justification for each request.

However mayor of Savanna-la-Mar Danree Delancy, who was elected on a People’s National Party ticket to represent the Bethel Town Division, is of the view that there is no legal requirement for justification to precede approval.

According to WMC CEO Andre Griffiths, requests are usually submitted by family members who want to repurpose family owned lands where relatives’ graves are located. It is a view shared by many who were at the meeting, including Chief Public Health Inspector Steve Morris who also pointed out that exhumations are sometimes prompted by planned development. He noted, for example, that several exhumations were carried out to facilitate work on the Ferris to Maxfield main road in the parish.

Griffiths believes the solution rests with the local authority.

“I believe it is something that the corporation needs to look at — establishing more cemeteries to avoid this in future,” the CEO said.

A solution would be welcomed by public health officials. During the meeting Morris also spoke of the challenges inherent with home burials, some of which have been highlighted by last October’s passage of Hurricane Melissa and the subsequent increase in the cases of leptospirosis.

“We have a high water table so burying people anywhere in the parish will lead to contamination of our water supply,” he cautioned.

Mayor Delancy stated that while he understands that residents of Westmoreland want to keep family members who have passed close to home, the issues raised by Morris must be taken into consideration.

“There are some areas that are not recommended to be used for burials,” the mayor insisted.

Andre Griffiths, chief executive officer of the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation, telling Thursday’s monthly meeting that exhumation requests are generally from relatives who wish to sell family land. Rosalee Wood Condell

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