There are now growing complaints from residents about the current overgrown state of the Falmouth Cemetery in Trelawny.
Shrubs and other similar plant life have seemingly taken a chokehold on the space that continues to serve not only the community of Falmouth, but others surrounding it. On a recent visit, mourners were seen having to deal with the overgrowth as they made their way through the cemetery to attend burial services on the day.
One man shared his views while describing the situation. “The place is in a deplorable state, the place wants to cut man. How does the place stay this way?” he remarked.
A woman stated that it seems there was no respect being given to the dead. “There seems to be no respect for the dead, their need to deal with the place better,” she lamented.
It seems the recent rains have further exacerbated the situation and the onslaught of mosquitoes could be felt throughout the stay in the space.
It is not certain when the matter will be addressed as Councillor for the Falmouth division, Garth Wilkinson, shared that the matter surrounding the cleaning of the cemetery hinges on finances.
“There are some serious challenges when it comes on to burial in Trelawny. We have thirty-one cemeteries in the parish, seventeen are active, and we only collect money from seven, and therefore it really is a challenge,” he explained.
He said currently, the funds raised from the cemeteries are not enough to carry out the work needed to carefully address the needs of the spaces. He shared a few of the cemeteries that they currently earn from.
“The cemeteries that we really collect money from are Falmouth, Martha Brae, and Duncans and, to a lesser extent, maybe Wakefield and over there in Sherwood.”
However, despite the current situation, he noted that they have been trying to maintain the cemetery over the years, but it gets more and more expensive to clean.
He believes that a resolution that he brought forward in 2021 could provide the support needed to put public-funded cemeteries in a place where they can be deemed acceptable.
The resolution had called for funeral homes to pay an annual fee to the corporation or a fee to be levied on the funeral homes for each burial which would be used to provide proper maintenance and upkeep of the cemeteries in the parish.
