Plans to “extend” a disused cemetery over a large area of agricultural land in the limits of Siġġiewi are being vociferously opposed by Partit Demokratiku, which on Friday warned against the "privatisation of the dead." 

Times of Malta reported on Thursday that developers have revived a planning application seeking to stretch the Ta’ Brija Cemetery close to Girgenti for a further 3,600 square metres. 

Plans to extend the cemetery were first made public more than a decade ago, in 2006, when developers sought a massive 11,000 square metre extension. They subsequently scaled those plans down following staunch opposition from environmental regulators and Siġġiewi local council. 

On Friday, PD added its voice to that of critics and said that the proposed extension would destroy valuable agricultural land and violated existing planning policies, since the cemetery would harm the underground water table.

"The Planning Authority's own guidelines on cemeteries require mandatory geological and pedological surveys," PD said. "Burials are a matter of public health."

It asked how the Ta' Brija cemetery, which was built in 1813, had ended up "in the private hands of an individual." 

In its statement, PD warned against what appeared to be a gradual shift towards the privatisation of burial grounds, saying such sites should continue to be within the remit of government or religious authorities. 

Talk of handing management of Addolorata cemetery over to the private sector should also sound alarm bells, the party said, adding that it expected the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage to speak up about the issue. 

In 2016, Health Minister Chris Fearne had announced that the government was seeking a private-public partnership to rehabilitate Addolorata, which is Malta's largest burial site.