Addolorata cemetery in parliamentary focus

The Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery featured in a number of parliamentary questions on Tuesday, all put by Labour MP Stefan Buontempo.

Social Policy Minister John Dalli said the government was exploring every possibility for the future of the cemetery, and was not excluding anything, including privatisation.

The government had no objection to cremation, and cremated bodies had been interred like non-cremated ones.

It had set aside a zone for the development of a crematorium, but was not interested in actually developing or managing it.

Gender, religious belief or ethnicity did not come into acceptance for burial. Everybody was welcome for burial without discrimination, but there were no records of burials according to religious beliefs.

Minister Dalli said that between January 1 and August 7 this year, the number of burials in Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery had amounted to 1,077 - 469 males and 608 females.