THE St Ann Municipal Corporation is now scrambling to develop 25 acres of land for a new public cemetery as the parish is running out of space for burials.

In the recent past, several major community cemeteries in St Ann have been ordered closed after the space allocated for burials was exhausted.

Among the cemeteries closed are Lime Hall, St Ann’s Bay, Claremont, Ocho Rios, and Brown’s Town, with another expected to be ordered closed shortly.

In response the corporation has been in talks with Noranda Bauxite Limited to acquire and develop the 25 acres.

During last Thursday’s monthly meeting of the corporation, Councillor Sydney Stewart (Jamaica Labour Party, Bamboo Division) called for increased urgency in the attempt to secure more burial space given the challenge St Ann is facing.

“The parish is vastly running out of burial spaces and we should take note of that. We have made some arrangements with Noranda to develop 25 acres but we should aim to get an additional 50 acres, which would take us up to 75 acres,” argued Stewart.

The issue of cemetery closures led to a heated discussion between Councillor Kaydian Harty (People’s National Party, Claremont Division) and CEO of the corporation Jennifer Brown-Cunningham.

Harty voiced her disappointment over the decision to order the closure of the Claremont cemetery, which she argued is not yet full.

“I refuse to accept that the municipal corporation wants to close the cemetery with 17 spots remaining, given all the constraints we’re having in the parish. People leave Claremont and all other places, only to hear that the cemetery is closed. I refuse to accept that we have spots in the cemetery and we are closing it,” said Harty.

But Brown-Cunningham was adamant that all the spaces in the Claremont cemetery are already taken and argued that the corporation must act responsibly.

“The use of the hyperbole is not going to do anything to this situation because I don’t know why we are going back and forth. All we are saying is that there are limited spacing and we have to ensure that we account for the reserved spots. A family has already written to us indicating that they have 13 spots in the cemetery. We have not been able to confirm just yet, but all we are saying is that there are issues surrounding it so we have to be thorough,” said Brown-Cunningham.

“Also, some of the spaces identified would have been walkways that would be used to access [graves]. There are no spaces available at the Claremont cemetery,” added Brown-Cunningham.

That explanation did not satisfy Harty, who quipped: “Open the Government cemetery let the people bury their loved ones.”

In the meantime, Councillor Genevor Gordon-Bailey (Jamaica Labour Party, Lime Hall Division) told the meeting that she is concerned with the use of the Steer Town cemetery by people who do not live in the area.

“I am in a nervous situation where the Steer Town cemetery is concerned. The Lime Hall Division has two cemeteries and the one in Lime Hall is already closed and the Steer Town cemetery has become the St Ann parish cemetery. On any given Saturday there are five to six funerals and the residents of Steer Town are not the ones using it. Rarely, there are funerals going on and the person is from Steer Town. It is unfair for residents of a community to have their dead and can’t use the cemetery in their community,” argued Gordon-Bailey.

She urged the corporation to redirect people seeking burial spots in the Steer Town cemetery to other areas in the parish.

“When persons come here you must be able to send them to Walkerswood and Beecher Town because when Steer Town full due to outside burials we are going have to go elsewhere,” added Gordon-Bailey.

In her response, Brown-Cunningham told the meeting that the corporation will be working assiduously to have the 25 acres of land it has acquired through Noranda developed.

“The only concern right now is the access to the 25 acres, so once the development is built out we won’t have any problems accessing the property,” said Brown-Cunningham.

She was supported by chairman of the corporation, Mayor of St Ann’s Bay Michael Belnavis.

“The fact is that we are running out of space due to the growth we are experiencing in St Ann, so it is important that we get additional space,” said Belnavis.

Councillor for the Lime Hall Division Genevor Gordon-Bailey voicing concern that outsiders are taking up the space left in the Steer Town cemetery.