Private graves at Addolorata Cemetery

I refer to the article by Mr Frank Muscat entitled "Problems at the Addolorata revisited" (The Sunday Times, April 9).

The reply given by the Department of Public Health with reference to Mr Muscat's letter in The Times of February 15 was meant to be a simple exercise in transparency and to answer his queries which were acknowledged to be relevant and therefore merited an honest answer.

The department is suitably disturbed by Mr Muscat's insinuations of a hidden agenda by the Department of Public Health and other speculations indulged in his article.

The application for the extension of the Addolorata Cemetery has been entrusted to the architects of the Public Works Department for several reasons, including economical ones. All the requests by MEPA for details and adjustments to the plans of the project, will continue to be handled by the architects involved so that this application complies with all existing planning laws and policies.

The Department of Public Health, and more so the Minister of Health, the Elderly and Community Care, Dr Louis Deguara himself, are more than anxious to get the green light for this extension which would mean satisfying the wish of those waiting to acquire a grave. Mr Muscat's criticism, directed at the Department of Health and the minister in particular, on how long the application for the extension of the Addolorata Cemetery is taking, is unfair and out of place.

Mr Muscat is surely more than aware that the matter does not depend solely on the Health Department and that there are channels to be followed and procedures to be respected. One should also appreciate that unless we wish to make Malta an island full of cemeteries we cannot continue to build graves at will. Therefore the intervals between extensions has to reflect this limitation of space.

One has to understand that whereas other properties can become vacant, and change hands to satisfy the needs of others, and their structure can be altered to suit different scopes, once an area is committed as a cemetery it remains as such.

Regarding the allegation that a grave at the Addolorata Cemetery fetches Lm6,000, it should be pointed out that according to Article 3 (4) of the Burials Ordinance, the transfer of graves is not permitted. All transfers of graves in government cemeteries require the approval of the Director-General of Health and such requests are not approved in cases where the transfer requested is by means of sale.

The price for the sale of graves from the government to the public is fixed by means of a legal notice and this always takes into consideration the social aspect associated with the ownership of a grave by the different members of the various sectors that make up society.

Death is a certainty that is not questioned. The feelings that are evoked at the loss of our loved ones are great, the committing of their body to a safe place where deterioration can take place undisturbed does not bring to an end the presence of those persons in our lives.

Burying a loved one in a common grave is not degrading. The same respect and love can still be retained towards the memory of those whose bones no longer hold the flesh and it is their soul and their good influence that they leave behind in the world that should be treasured and passed on.