Problems at the Addolorata revisited

On January 18, Health Minister Louis Deguara, replying to a parliamentary question, stated that while a number of graves at Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery had not been used for a considerable time, there was a waiting list of 2,665 people who wished to buy a family grave. He also said that the government was planning to extend the Addolorata to meet demand once development permission was in hand.

As the last allocation of graves at the Addolorata is reported to have taken place in 1991, a number of parliamentary questions have since been put to the minister. For instance, in 2002, the minister told Dr Adrian Vassallo (MLP), that there were 1,953 pending applications for the purchase of graves; in 2004, the figure shot up to 3,450. The minister now tells us that there are 2,665 pending applications.

Given the unexpected but significant drop of 785 pending applications, on February 20, I wrote to the Department of Public Health seeking an explanation. On March 13, the department, under much pressure to reply, answered thus: "Your point regarding the discrepancy in the figures to the number of applications on the waiting list given in reply to parliamentary questions is due to the fact that the numbers in the registers are continuous and include also those applications that have in the past already been given a grave and hence to arrive to the actual number on the waiting list the number of applications already given a gravesite has to be subtracted. In the case when the figure given seemed to have shot up the reason was that inadvertently an error was committed in these subtractions. In subsequent replies the error was corrected which resulted in an apparent drop in the number on the waiting list".

How is that for a simple answer to a simple question? I must confess that the Department of Public Health's reply has left me more confused than ever and wondering about the number of inadvertent mistakes it makes when it comes to giving accurate figures to the public. Bureaucratic entities such as the Department of Public Health are designed to be accountable to the public, to illuminate and not to obfuscate issues.

The Minister of Health has made it abundantly clear that once development permission was in hand, the government would extend the Addolorata Cemetery.

Throughout the years, the minister has dismally failed to explain to the public why the development permission is moving at a snail's pace. I believe the minister is unlikely to change tack. He would either find it quite embarrassing to do so or choose to be evasive.

As is publicly available on the Malta Environment and Planning Authority's Website, the application PA00556/02 for the extension of the Addolorata was submitted by the Department of Public Health on January 3, 2002. To my knowledge, informal talks between MEPA and the department had been going on for years prior to the application. On February 20, I wrote to MEPA seeking a clearer picture of the contributing factors for the delay. MEPA replied that: "... a request for two simple section drawings, detail of a boundary wall design and a landscaping plan was made by MEPA in July 2005 and the submissions were made during January 2006".

I have every reason to believe that there has been little, if any, co-ordination between the Department of Public Health and the Department of Public Works.

It would clarify matters significantly to the 2006 applicants if the minister were to explain whether the delay has been principally due to intermittent changes of management or architects within the Department of Public Works. I strongly suspect this to have been the case. In this scenario, engaging an architect privately years ago would have by now achieved the desired effect and reflected an effective and efficient leadership. A MEPA Website report states that the Department of Public Health's application was at one stage suspended. The applicants have a right to learn from the minister all the facts of the case.

Rumour has it that the delay is due to a hidden agenda by the government to privatise the Addolorata and, that, for whatever reason, the government does not consider the time ripe enough to execute this plan. Given enough goodwill on his part, the minister is in a position to dispel this rumour and to put the applicants' mind at rest. He simply cannot afford to indulge in evasive tactics.

He knows in his heart of hearts that a politician who is elusive with his/her replies, parliamentary or in the media, will soon lose the people's trust and respect. Charles de Gaulle is reported to have said: "Since a politician never believes what he says, he is quite surprised to be taken at his word". I think this quotation is particularly apt to the issue at stake.

There are people who cringe at the thought of being buried in a common grave; their desire is to be buried next to their loved ones. I assume that the minister has a family grave; the sad fact is that 2,665 applicants do not. Certainly, this in itself should spur the minister to demonstrate enough motivation, determination and empathy towards those who have been waiting for years to have their own family grave at the Addolorata. Perhaps, this issue is too serious a matter to be left only to the Minister of Health.

The minister should be equally committed towards those who simply do not have the financial muscle to buy one. It is my understanding that a family grave at the Addolorata currently fetches Lm6,000. In view of this, the government should without delay adopt a policy that will cater for the less well off. For lower-paid families too, a family grave expresses in words, deeds and objects their belief in the sacredness of human persons - whether rich or poor, powerful or ordinary.

When death occurs, many emotions are expressed and those left behind have to decide, among other things, where the final place should be for their loved one and how best to commemorate a memorial tribute of some kind. Knowing that one has a family grave goes a long way to alleviate not only the dying person's anxieties but also the anticipated bewilderment, loss and uncertainty that accompany one's final exit.

People will continue to visit their family grave for different reasons: some to pay their respects by praying or by leaving flowers or light a candle; others to have some quiet time or to contemplate the brevity of time or to evaluate their current lifestyle in the light of eternity.

Whatever the reason, a family grave is a bridge across the gulf of separation which is death. We feel ourselves diminished by the death of a dear friend or a loved one; this has a reality in faith for some, as well as in natural experience for all.