Land disputes delay burials in St Ann
Squatters tried to prevent woman burying her husband on her own property
OCHO RIOS, St Ann — Family disputes linked to land ownership have been affecting burials in this parish, according to Jennifer Brown-Cunningham, chief executive officer (CEO) of the St Ann Municipal Corporation.
Speaking during the monthly sitting of the corporation last Thursday, the CEO disclosed that more than three bodies were returned to funeral homes in recent times due to cease and desist orders issued by the municipal corporation. The orders, she said, were served after the corporation received letters saying bodies were being buried without permission from land owners.
“Family members have sent in written orders to stop burials and we have been caught in the middle because once we get a written objection, we have to serve a stop order — especially for those that have even come through lawyers,” explained Brown-Cunningham.
“Sometimes these issues are deep family controversies that nobody can fix,” she added.
One case she dealt with in the first week of February involved squatters objecting to burial on an informal settlement called Clapham, in Moneague.
“One lady came here in tears from Clapham because there are squatters on her property that she has been trying to remove from 2016. And those people sent in an objection for the owner of the land to bury her husband on her own land. Luckily, investigations were done in time so we were able to find out true ownership so the lady could lay her husband to rest,” Brown-Cunningham told the meeting.
“It has been a harrowing couple of months,” she added.
The CEO of the local authority urged councillors to become more involved when decisions are being made about burials in their divisions.
“These are community issues and you may be able to have these conversations with members in relation to how they decided to lay their loved ones to rest, because it can be very contentious,” Brown-Cunningham said.
Weighing in on the issue, Councillor Lloyd Garrick (People’s National Party, Moneague Division) said part of the solution involves the corporation moving with more urgency in handling burial-related matters.
“I think that if the corporation can speed up the process when persons apply for burial, it would solve a lot of issues. [There is a need to] move more swiftly to send stuff to the health department, so they can do their investigations and that time we will know what is actually happening,” he said.
