The Last Journey Getting Longer

Phillip Willoughby, the Deputy Mayor, and his predecessor Councilor Deon Leslie recently informed Belizeans that unless they have already space at the Lord Ridge Cemetery, it is very likely that if they should die any time soon, there will be no new spaces available at Lord Ridge Cemetery for their burial.

Without hesitation the Belize City Council informed Belizeans that we had run out of burial space at Lord Ridge.  According to the Council, the only solution to this problem is to now look into building a new cemetery in Hattiville, some 13 miles away from downtown Belize City.

Besides the fact that no one seem to have bothered to inform the authorities of Hattiville that a new cemetery would be built in their neighbourhood to house 20,000 new graves for Belize City residents, this City administration waited until only 12 spaces were left to inform Belizeans that the City has run out of space to bury their loved ones.

At 78 Miss Almita Cane of a Belize City address stated that she never thought the day would come when she would be planning a funeral in some place other than Lord Ridge.  She said, “If I die in a month where will my children bury me? I may end up in a hole in the back yard if they have no place for me at Lord Ridge.”

For others like Miss Cane, the news of the situation at Lord Ridge Cemetery raises many questions.   How long will it take to make this cemetery ready for Belize City residents to start to utilize?  Who is going to fund this important work?  Considering the fact that the Council is currently broke, how will they pay for the surveying of the land, the constructions of roads and walkways and all that is needed for the proper layout of a cemetery?  How do they plan to recover this cost and who will be the caretakers of this new facility?

It seems that no one in the Belize City Council is able to answer any of these questions or to address what is definitely a serious problem for City residents, who if they do not already have a burial space at Lord Ridge Cemetery may have to go to a private cemetery or look to one of the nearby villages to find what should be a final resting place for a loved one.

Peter Armstrong, a young auto mechanic said that he was not worried, since he would prefer to be cremated and his ashes let go over the Hawksworth Bridge, but was worried, however, that if a family member should die any time soon they may be forced to cremate rather than bury since they could not afford to pay the cost of burying a family member at the Homeland Cemetery.

Many Belizeans are wondering what effect this would have on the cost of dying.  In addition to the additional burden of having to travel 13 miles to lay someone to their final rest and the cost involved in moving relatives and friends an additional 12 miles to attend an interment, will the cost of a space or plot in the new cemetery be more?

Doris Middleton from Neal’s Pen Road, a nurse who is taking care of an 88 year old aunt is worried that if her aunt passes anytime soon she may not be able to afford her funeral. The sick aunt, a long time Methodist, wants to be buried next to her sister but the only trouble is there is no space next to the sister who passed away just one year ago.

“Maybe we and bury her on top of her like they do in Orange Walk where they burry people above ground,” Miss Middleton said.  “This whole situation with this new burying ground no mek no sense to me.”

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