Problems at the Addolorata

I refer to the Health Minister's reply to a parliamentary question about applications for gravesites at Addolorata Cemetery (January 19). The Minister is reported to have stated that there was a waiting list of over 2,665 people who wished to buy graves since many wished to have a family grave.

Furthermore, the government was planning to extend the Addolorata to meet demand once development permission was in hand.

On June 27, 2004, and subsequently on July 26, 2004, I wrote a letter on behalf of a relative of mine to the Department of Public Health, requesting information in connection with her filed application, dated December 18, 1999, for a grave site at the Addolorata cemetery. I was told that a plan and an application had been submitted by the Department of Health to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority for an extension on the west side at the rear of the cemetery. I was further told that the Department of Health were still awaiting the issue of the necessary approval to move to the next phase, that of implementation and ultimate allocation of graves in accordance with the official waiting list. The last allocation of graves at Addolorata took place in the early 1990s following the extension on the east side of the rear of the cemetery.

A number of parliamentary questions have been put to the Minister of Health since 1999 in connection with the cemetery. For instance, in 2002 the Minister of Health told Adrian Vassallo, MLP, that there were 1,953 pending applications for the purchase of graves (The Times, March 5, 2002); in 2004, the figure shot up to 3,450 (The Times, July 23, 2004). The Minister of Health now tells us that there are 2,665 pending applications.

I wonder how the Minister would explain the significant drop of 785 pending applications and whether he could unequivocally and publicly state the exact date of the last allocation of graves at the Addolorata Cemetery.

A number of reasons can be given to explain the sharp drop; for instance some people might have changed their mind in the absence of a family grave and later expressed a desire for cremation; others, to the dismay of bereaved relatives, were buried in common graves. A number of owners might have sold their sites for pecuniary reasons or opted to assign the right of burial to another party for quite legitimate reasons. I assume the Minister has the vital statistics with him and is in a position to publicly interpret these statistics.

It appears that Mepa has been unreasonably dragging its feet in issuing the necessary development permission for an extension of the west side at the rear of the cemetery. I think both the Minister and Mepa owe the public an unequivocal clarification of this regrettable state of affairs.

The government is also reported to be carrying out a census of the number of graves at the Addolorata Cemetery which have not been used for 50 years. This is a laudable exercise as it should, above all, free up those sites that serve no purpose, and provide a comprehensive search process to locate all rightful owners with a view to determine their continual intent in the sites.

This exercise offers some hope in remedying what appears to be an intractable problem of long standing. The Minister of Health should leave no stone unturned to inform the public of the nature and duration of his action plan.