Rambharat: No shortage of burial space at Princes Town cemeteries

Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Clarence Rambharat has said there is no shortage of burial space in Princes Town cemeteries.

Rambharat was responding to claims made by Opposition Senator Wade Mark in the Senate on Wednesday.

Raising the issue as a matter on the adjournment, Mark said there was a lack of burial spaces in cemeteries in Princes Town.

“There seems to be a crisis as it concerns burial spaces in Princes Town,” he said. “Both the living and the dead seem to be under pressure.”

Mark listed some of the 23 cemeteries located in the Princes Town Regional Corporation which, he said, had few burial spaces remaining.

“Some of these plots located in these cemeteries seem to be reaching what I call crisis levels.”

He said a cemetery at Busy Corner has 300 plots, 250 of which have been used. In Union Walk, he said, there are 783 plots, 703 of which have been used, and in St Clements, he said there are 200 plots, all of which are full.

However, Rambharat said, “I can assure the community of Princes Town municipality, based on very recent discussions, the line minister – Minister of Rural Development and Local Government, Kazim Hosein – had with the corporation, it reported that in the 23 cemeteries, there are currently 6,007 plots available. So, there is no crisis in Princes Town in relation to burial plots.”

He also said the government recently took steps to finalise arrangements that led to the establishment of the Islamic Cemetery ground in Barrackpore and, outside of the area, in Chaguanas, the government formalised a grant of space for the Islamic community for a burial ground and additional ground for the expansion of non-Islamic burials.

However, he said there are some areas where burial space is an issue. He said the government is dealing with a request from the Defence Force for additional space for military burials.

“They have indicated fewer than 20 spaces in the cemetery in Long Circular.”

He said, during the pandemic there has been an issue with the availability of covid19 burial space across the country.

He said the line ministry had a meeting, on January 13, 2022, with the chairmen and mayors of all the corporations and the issue was discussed.

“I can say at that meeting the Princes Town Regional Corporation chairman (Gowrie Roopnarine) indicated there were no issues with regular burial in the region.

“But the chairman did indicate that spots for covid19 burials were depleting.”

Rambharat said 45 per cent of the population of that region are Hindus and, at the time, they were not allowed to practise cremation rights, increasing the demand for covid19-designated burials for Hindus.

“It is a matter of public record that open-pyre cremation for the Hindu population has been resolved and the ministry expects there will be a shift for the demand for the use of burial plots in Hindu communities and a shift toward the preferred cremation.