Catholic Priest, Father Franklyn Cuffy, has said the lack of graveyard space around Dominica is becoming a great concern especially for priests conducting burial ceremonies.
Over the years people have complained about human remains being dug up during burials at both the public and Catholic cemeteries.
Cuffy mentioned that this is not only a church issue, but also a health one.
He pointed to the recent burial of Davidson Daisy of Silver Lake who was set ablaze while he slept on Feburary 7.
“After the church ceremony, we went to the cemetery and everything was okay until the remains was laid in the tomb and they began covering the grave and you could see the actual remains of the previous person including the skull,” he stated. “Everyone present was really disgusted with that fact.”
He further noted that the same issue was experienced in the Massacre Cemetery while he was Parish Priest there.
“We have some land in Mahaut for over 30 years donated by the Nassief Foundation and I attempted using the place, of course the place wasn’t properly prepared and I take that responsibility, but Massacre is a health hazard, just so is the Public Cemetery,” Father Cuffy explained.
He is calling on the government to step in to help curb that problem.
Cremation fremation cremation end of story easier cheaper and cleaner
as usual a bunch of stupid UWP supporters with those ignorant comments everything is political. when will you all burry politics and move on..so annoying
We should start cremating or sea burrials.
It is not the first time I have heard of bones in the grave. I remember in D/ca, when I attended someone’s funeral and burial, I witnessed it. At the Roseau cemetery, as the coffin was lowered in the grave, I was close enough to notice some bones in the dirt. Sometimes pieces of the coffin could be seen.
The body takes some years to decay and to mix with the dirt so as not to be seen. Bones as also skulls (which are bones anyway) take a longer time to decay.
The authorities will have to ensure when the body was buried prior to digging up the grave.
If the grave diggers found such, they should do their utmost to hide them at the bottom of the grave so that they can’t be seen.
These grave diggers also need to be educated. I knew in a certain area they would be drunk while digging the graves and did not dig them deep enough. You can imagine the stench later. They had to be called to place more dirt on the graves. I hope this does not occur today.
I am starting my burial ground business,you buy your plot you bury your dead. this is no issue for the government.
Don’t worry I will bring in the crematory…
Less space is needed to bury a small box of ash…
And for those who are saying dust to dust…wether in physical body or ashes..what difference does it make.
Everywhere the dead is placed,that place got to give up the dead on that great day..
God said it, and I believe it….
And then some folks got to burn in hell any way.
OOppss….cremation changes nothing…
If the person is destine for up,cremate or no cremate that will be the person eternal home.Likewise a person heading down to the pit,cremation changes nothing.
So the grave burial didn’t see the train when they was digging, why is it when they’re covering that they saw it
All we know how to do is beg the government or blame the government, when are we going to do things for our selves , we dont even have a good tax base, we have to create the companys give our people employment we will make enough money to bury our dead. We are to lazy all we do is complain and do nothing.
Cremate..Cremate…A little vase with ash will take up less space.
Father Cuffy, get the church to buy land if the govt. will not provide it and charge people to be buried. Otherwise sanction cremation. I will be happy to invest in that if your church gives that its blessing. Its less messy, more hygenic and many of us going to burn in hell anyway.
Mr. Cuffy explain to us in what way should the government help?? As you said you take the responsibility of not pursuing the land given to the church by the Nassiefs over 30 years ago so my advise is do what is necessary and convert the land into a cemetery. Prepare the necessary documents and take it to planning and STOP THE COMPLAINING you people COMPLAIN TOOOO WAY TOOO DAM MUCH MAN!!!!!!!!!!!
SMDFH!!!!!!
Eh even de dead taking blows under skerro.
Are u expecting Skerro to bury them in his mansion? Blame the Govt. for everything that is affecting DA
That one take me … LOL.
If you think this is a joke, it is no joke. This is not a comment you should make. For one it has no bearing on this article and is far removed from it.
One day you will be severely punished for what you state. It will not come from below but from above.
Take care of what you state for one day you will pay for it and your idle words which make no sense and teach nothing. It makes you look like a foolish and senseless person who is also not nice.
You may need to have your head examined by a psychiatrist.
Father Cuffy should save himself the headache and go straight to the Chinese. Asking Dominica to do something about it is a waste of time.
Space can never be an issue. Da has too much available land to think of that. Like the hospital, its pretty much a planning issue .ehemm..lack of planning issue. Yep, they weer still debating until recently on where to put the new hospital, although promises of that has been over 5 years!
“Planning” seems to be relegated to approving building permits. We have to alocate and plan for the future. Be it for a school, park, hospital….Indeed land can and should be purchased and set aside for many public functions, whether we are really ready for it or not. Some of the issues we face in DA is just accepting things for the way we are..we are not thinking down the road long and hard enough. Sadly the people who are put in office to work on strategic matters for the common good are sitting on their hands. Yes its true that politics does have some part to play in it. Most administrations see no value about planning for the future. They want to be able to say that they did it. Sad but true
Now Dominica cannot even bury it dead? God have mercy on our souls.
It’s amazing that we have not addressed this issue to date. Most of the burial sites around the island dates back to its early history, i.e. post colonialism.
There is adequate land available to take care of this issue. Neither the Labor Government of the 70s, the Freedom Party Government of the 80s the brief UWP Administration or the current Labor Government has seen it fit to address human dignity through burial.
It’s sad that we continue to neglect the most basic of human rights and dignity on this island. How do we even promote tourism when we lack dignity for our dearly departed?
There’s adequate land in Stockfarm and Bellevue to address the Roseau portion of this issue. Land has already been made available for the Massacre and Mahaut burial issue. So what’s preventing solutions to be sought as soon as possible?
In this era much of the available land has been taken up with building new houses. This could be one of the causes of this issue.
why are we only delying on burial? what about cremation? O if i had money boy..
30 Million for election propaganda, 28 Million for state palace…but not a penny for even the most basic human dignity.
Viva Labour! You really screwed up Dominica in only 15 years!!!
Dead people don’t vote !!
Dead people don’t vote but their living families do.
Why we don’t use the method the U SVI use that is building concrete graves. One spot can accommodate up to four graves without disturbing each other. I think some of our church leaders have seen them and know what I am talking about.
This may be a good idea for USVI which obviously has a similar problem to D/ca as also using the majority of land for building new homes and lavish ones which is why they run out of land to bury the departed. Ever thought of that?
This too, is lack of concern for the departed, burying them one on top of the other and they are not related. I do not think this is a good idea. If they are related I could endorse that; otherwise not.
It is upsetting and disgusting. They must have respect for the departed. Shame on them!
In the USVI only family members are buried on top of each other. They don’t just bury anyone on top of the other person.
Build the graves with stairs or shelves ,which makes more spaces available…as for the remains which were found the person who dug the hole should have burried the remains properly to avoid any form of embarrassment to the public,,seeing human faeces in a cemetry is not a good site ,nonetheless the people who are doing this ,are not solely to blame…any one of us who have an urgent need ,,either to pee or poo when it is almost down in your pants you feel like letting it go any where ,,,which is not always the suitable place to do so..i do not condone such a behaviour but i also blame the gov’t .there is no public toilet in roseau except at the market place and again it is locked when market time is over…but don’t forget that every cloud has a silver lining …
Sight G.B. and not site in this case. Learn your own “bleeding” language, anglais.
Pertaining to lack of public toilet and blaming the government, I would not recommend any public toilet in Roseau. Why? Because there are people who would use it carelessly. If it is not cleaned during the day, it will stink! Those who are concerned about cleanliness and health would not use it anyway; only certain people would. Some people would have to be educated about using it for cleanliness purpose. Who wants to take on that responsibility?
Do you or did you reside in Roseau and the outlying areas, in addition to passing by the one which was near the new bridge (called so in those days) near where people resided and on the opposite side of that public toilet which smelled? The odor was bad. Nearby was the area where the trucks from out of town packed. Especially walking by, people had to hold their breadth.
I visualize if public toilets are built around Roseau they would have to be constantly supervised and cleaned.
Cease blaming the PM for everything.
Go ask Daddy Skerritt for space Cuffy. He will give Malzaire his boy cord Crazy the Botanical Gardens for expansion of the catholic burial ground in Roseau
Maybe they should stop using expensive and useless cement blocks as part of the ceremony! Place the dead in linen cloth and bury them; that way when the bones deteriorate, we have space for the others who will quickly follow!
Encourage cremation.
Cre mate wat?????????????????????????????? Dust we come Dust we return !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cremation does turn the body into dust..
Well said especially that we are somewhat still in Lent. Dust to dust, ashes to ashes was not spoken of the soul. Dust you are and to dust you shall return.
I am not one for cremation. I hate fire anyway. The thought of my body being burnt, even though I am not aware of it, irks me. I pray God to preserve me even while alive from fire which is destructive.
By the way, have a Blessed Easter to you and yours. God bless!
This is why I’m overseas studying. I’m concerned about the health of our citizens as well as our natural infrastructure. With that being said I want to encourage cremation. It’s saves space and helps the environment. Smh.
A crematory is a very expensive venture…that is why it havent been started yet