Paying for the afterlife: cemetery privatisation ‘not excluded’
James Debono It’s been only a week after the creation of 9,000 new graves has been announced, and social policy minister John Dalli has told parliament that the government would not exclude the option of privatising the Addolorata cemetery.
On Tuesday, Dalli told parliament the government is presently “not excluding anything and is exploring all possibilities,” regarding the future of the cemetery.
He also said the government had identified a zone for bodies to be cremated. But at present, the government has no interest in developing or managing a crematorium. A spokesperson said the minister was finalising plans for the Addolorata, which are to be announced in a forthcoming press conference.
Dalli had previously told parliament that the Cabinet was considering a proposal to extend Addolorata Cemetery by a further 9,000 graves. The project would be completed in two years, but the new graves would be offered as soon as they became available, he said.
Figures given by the minister show there are 6,530 applications for private graves in government cemeteries, of which 4,029 are singled out for the Addolorata.
There are 20,517 private graves in government cemeteries, of which 14,329 are at the Addolorata. There are also 1,776 ‘common’ graves.
MEPA approved a cemetery extension measuring approximately 20,000 square metres in July 2006.
The planned extension of the cemetery was advertised by means of an eye-catching billboard, proclaiming the addition of over 2,500 new graves shortly before the last election.
But later it turned out that the number of persons on the ‘waiting list’ for graves already numbered 3,819. It took one irate grave buyer, who kept on enquiring about his decade-old application, to discover that the Addolorata cemetery extension plans were as good as dead.
Minister Dalli rebutted by informing the man that government had “decided to stop the planned extension to the Addolorata cemetery to be able to develop a plan that does justice to this architectural jewel.”
Any comments?
If you wish your comments to be published in our Letters pages please click button below. Please write a contact number and a postal address where you may be contacted.
Search:
MALTATODAY
BUSINESSTODAY
Download MaltaToday Sunday issue front page in pdf file format
All the interviews from Reporter on MaltaToday's YouTube channel.
