Dear Editor,
On Thursday October 5, 2023 “The Evening News” carried a story about graves being dug up/out and desecrated at the Murphy Dam cemetery, Rosignol Village, West Berbice, located in Region 5.
One of those graves amongst the many, is that of my late mother!
Now, this callous and reprehensible act is being executed by a known contractor within the very region. This individual claims he owns the land where this cemetery exists for over seventy years to date.
If this person owns this land, answers needed to the following questions: –
1. Why did he continue to allow residents to continuously bury their loved ones there?
2. Why didn’t he erect a notice that it’s private property?
3. If he owns this land why is the Rosignol NDC selling the burial plots and not him?
4. Why didn’t he inform the residents that he owns the land and it will be dug up and the sand removed/sold?
These residents I refer to are from the catchment area of Cotton Tree Village on the northern end which includes the neighbouring villages on both sides. As well as those at the southern end under Blairmont/Gelderland such as Plantain Walk and Shieldstown. For notably, those that reside in this catchment area utilise this burial site and most certainly have loved ones buried there! As such, they should have been told to exhume their loved ones who may be in danger of being dug out and they should relocate them out of his land!
Finally, who will shed some light on this act of cruelty? For there are more questions than answers. One such: where are the remains of our loved ones? Where do we go to pay our respects as there are no longer any graves to identify each individual burial spot? How do you go about compensating these aggrieved families for the unnecessary emotional and psychological distress?
Sincerely,
Juliet Dukhi
Social Advocate
