Residents of Peyia are expressing concern about the state of the municipality's "foreign" cemetery.
“My late wife is buried at the far end of the cemetery, she passed away in 2012,” said one local resident, originally from the UK, who now lives in a nearby village. “We decided to bury my wife in this place because my relatives lived in Cyprus for many years and always wanted to be buried in Peyia.”
Access to his wife's grave has recently become extremely difficult, since there is a catastrophic lack of space in the cemetery and new graves are even placed on footpaths.
The 64-year-old Briton, who has lived on the island for 20 years, also expressed disappointment that essential maintenance of the site, which should be covered by council taxes, was not being carried out.
“I had to clear vegetation from my wife’s grave. Many graves are overgrown"
“They are happy to sell villas to British pensioners, but no one cares how they are buried in the end,” said one outraged local resident.
Speaking on the issue, a senior official from Peyia council acknowledged the problem and said that the municipality was in fact in the process of obtaining the necessary permits to expand the cemetery. For this purpose, a nearby plot of land has already been purchased for 500,000 euros.
“We hope to be able to propose a new cemetery site within a few months, but the timing will also depend on the problems caused by local government restructuring,” he said.
“Peyia is the only community that has separate cemeteries for non-Orthodox and Orthodox burials.”
This was not due to any prejudice, but because in the late 1990s the municipality saw fit to specifically set aside land for the needs of the rapidly growing expat community. Purely by coincidence, the Greek and “British” cemeteries ended up on opposite sides of the road.
Visitors to the British cemetery note that the graveyard paths are generally narrower and the graves simpler and smaller, often not even having headstones. Officials attributed the difference to cultural factors.
“The municipality is responsible for maintaining the paths and collecting waste. The difference in burial style is due to cultural differences, and some of those buried in the British cemetery no longer have living relatives who can regularly travel to Cyprus to look after the grave.”
The cost of a burial site in the area ranges from 350 to 5,000 euros. Cost is determined on a scale that takes into account how long a person has lived in the community and whether they pay property taxes or rent. In Peyia, burial site fees are not included in annual taxes.
Watt, who is director of the Cyprus Crematorium Project, said that currently a cremation from Cyprus could be arranged in Vienna or the UK for around €5,000, excluding funeral fees, while at a local crematorium this could be reduced to around €900 . As for the project's future, Watt said operating permits have already been secured and an announcement on its progress may be forthcoming next month.
Source: cyprus-mail.com
