CCTV cameras possible for Addolorata cemetery

Closed-circuit television cameras could be installed at the Addolorata Cemetery as part of plans to step up security following the recent spate of vandalism and theft targeting graves.

The Environmental Health Directorate, which is responsible for the management of the cemetery, said this was just one of a set of measures being considered to increase security at the country’s largest cemetery.

As a temporary measure, security has already been stepped up in collaboration with the Paola police station, with officers patrolling the area more often, especially during the night.

The cemetery, which has close to 16,000 graves, covers a very large area, so much so the department said it did not have a clue of the actual size. The vast amount of land involved was a problem in itself, aspokesman said.

“Although the Environmental Health Directorate is exploring the possibility of increasing surveillance and security by adopting various measures, it should be emphasised the size of the cemetery and the availability of access to the public constitutes a difficulty to avoid such deplorable acts,” the spokesman said.

She added it was evident recent thefts were targeting metal objects, especially those made of bronze.

At present, there are two security officers working on a seven-day roster from 6.15 a.m. to 6.15 p.m. and one gatekeeper working on a seven-day roster between 7 a.m. and 5.15 p.m. to control the entrances to the cemetery. During the night, seven watchmen work on a seven-day roster between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m., divided into two shifts.

Asked whether the authorities were planning to bolster the perimeter wall around the cemetery to make it more difficult for intruders to jump over and gain easy access, the spokesman said this matter had not yet been identified as “the problem or the only problem” at the cemetery.

There is no perimeter wall to speak of at the back entrance. At one point it stops and makes the cemetery fully accessible from the fields around it.

“The Health Ministry has launched an internal inquiry into the recent thefts and, hence, at this stage, it would be wise to refrain from pre-empting or influencing the findings and recommendations of the board of inquiry,” the spokesman said.

In May and again in October, the grave of Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi’s parents, Ineż and Ġiġi, was targeted by vandals who, in the first attack, torched the grave and scrawled obscenities on it. In October, vandals etched the initials BWSC on a wall of a chapel adjacent to the same grave.

BWSC is the company awarded the controversial power station extension contract amid charges of irregularities.

In November, the Health Ministry launched an investigation into the theft of a bronze sculpture by Anton Agius from the memorial to stillborn babies.

Maria Rossella Dalmas of Msida wrote to The Times last month expressing her grief and that of members of her family when, upon reaching the family grave for a burial, they discovered that a bronze cross on the headstone had disappeared. She said this was the third time in a decade the family grave had been vandalised.

More recently, an inquest was launched into the theft of a bronze bust of former Malta Union of Teachers president Alfred Buhagiar.