FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Falmouth Mayor C Junior Gager is appealing to residents across Trelawny to stop backyard burials, warning that the practise could threaten water quality, obstruct drainage, and create mosquito-breeding sites.

Gager, who represents the Warsop Division, raised the concern during last Thursday’s regular monthly meeting of the Trelawny Municipal Corporation (TMC).

He said it is believed that a roadside culvert was blocked to prevent water from flowing into private burial grounds, resulting in the formation of a large body of water in the division.

The mayor told the meeting that he intends to ask the National Works Agency (NWA) to investigate the circumstances surrounding the obstruction and determine whether restoring the drainage system would resolve the problem.

“I want the NWA to come and let us see if we can verify whether or not a culvert really runs under the main road. If a culvert is there, we have to remove the blockage and allow the water to drain because people have been saying to me that the culvert used to take the water straight down to Hector’s River,” said Gager.

GAGER…it is better we secure and encourage you to go to the areas where you have the established cemeteries

He added the accumulated water had developed into a substantial pond, posing potential environmental and public health concerns in addition to encroaching on neighbouring properties.

He also explained that backyard burials could pose a risk to water sources, particularly when graves are dug near wells or other supplies used by residents.

“At times they just dump the dirt and it would wash down and block the drains. Also, sometimes where they are digging the grave, you have water sources close by and therefore we have nothing to prove that it isn’t soaking into the water [sources].

Say, for example, you’re living on a hill and you dig a grave up there but the people are catching water down at the bottom, how [do] we know the water not soaking down there?” Gager questioned. He urged residents to use established cemeteries or designated family burial grounds.

However, the mayor warned that if property later changes hands, new owners may still remove graves or relocate remains to make way for construction, creating further complications for families.

Gager, who said the TMC still gets requests for backyard burials, underscored that the corporation only gives approval if the property forms part of an established family burial ground.

“It is better we secure and encourage you to go to the areas where you have the established cemeteries. Stop the burying in backyard,” the mayor urged. The issue of backyard burials and the danger they pose to water quality has been long running in Jamaica. In 2007 the Jamaica Observer published an extensive report on the practise, noting its prevalance in rural areas.

The report stated that in St Catherine the then parish council had been trying to get residents to desist from burying their loved ones at home.

At the time, then Spanish Town Mayor Andrew Wheatley told the Sunday Observer that in recent years his council and the St Catherine Health Department had embarked on an effort to sensitise people about the relationship between unchecked backyard burials and contamination of underground water.

The move, he said, had significantly reduced the practise in the parish and resulted in additional demands on public cemeteries in the parish, contributing to a shortage of spaces.

But Samuel Cameron, the then chief public health inspector at the St Catherine Health Department, admitted that although people were prohibited from burying within the town limit, or where the water table is high, policing all burials on family plots would prove difficult because of the size of the parish.

“Some people will bury without the health department knowing,” Cameron said.

In addition, he pointed out that because places such as Old Harbour, Portmore, Spanish Town, Linstead, and sections of Ewarton have a high water table, the department would have to determine how many wells are located in the vicinity of the proposed burial site before approval can be granted to people who desire to bury at home.

He explained that an assessment would have to be made if the desired burial space falls within the town limit, or anywhere where there’s a high water table.

“There’s a map we have available from the Underground Water Authority, so we’ll know the wells in that particular locale,” Cameron said. He also said that the health department can exhume a body buried at a site that is considered unsuitable for that activity.

Additionally, Cameron shared that the issue of backyard burials is raised with councillors, who should be aware of all burials taking place in their constituencies.