“Cremation is the solution,” said Gerardo Arevalos, director of the Necropolis Department of the Municipality of Asunción, given the current situation of the capital’s cemeteries.
Gerardo Arevalos He gave details of several projects that are being carried out to modernize the cemeteries in the city, to provide the population with a better service. He said that with the previous annual budget it was insufficient, since he pointed out that in the three cemeteries the investment is 11 billion guaraníes to keep the cemeteries in shape, while what was collected per year, according to data from the Directorate of Collections would reach 3,500 million guaraníes, generating a very unfavorable gap, which prevented reinvestment in the sector.
He explained that the Assigned land in municipal cemeteries always corresponds to the municipalitywhat is done is to give in usufruct to those who request prior payment of an annual canon, in the event that the holders of these properties do not pay the fiscal canon in five years, the municipality can apply an existing ordinance, recover the space since the norm speaks of expiration, then the land returns to the municipal domain.
indicated that the death of people will logically continue in the country and especially in Asunción, so there is a great occupation of cemeteriesTherefore, solutions must be sought that take into account the modern necropolis, how to install crematorium ovens which is the solution to the issue of burial.
In this regard, he mentioned that studies were carried out in the commune and the experiences of friendly countries in the region were collated, including, where it is found that the best solution is the installation of crematorium ovens.
Arévalos assured that The Necropolis Department is studying this possibility and there are already projects in this regard, even looking for spaces in the city where a modern cemetery can be created.
In the three cemeteries there is a capacity for 50 thousand spaces, the Recoleta cemetery is the oldest and the one with the largest capacity, it was declared a national heritage, that is, you cannot intervene to alter its structure.
The department head explained that Much of the ancient folklore was lost over time and especially after the Covid 19 pandemic.the residents, florists and gravediggers remember that Monday was a holiday in cemeteries, entire families and guests came to venerate their deceased relatives.
“Today no one goes to visit their relativesThey remember the places where they are in the cemetery when someone dies, that is the problem and people come and say I had my grandmother there, in most cases they find these graves even though they are neglected”, he stated.
“There are complaints in the municipal cemeteries about the state of dirt and the robberies that are committed inside, desecrating the graves, in response to that we believe that the solution will come from the modernization of the cemetery, placing cameras and better lighting the premises, increasing the number of workers, but that requires an investment that cannot be made for now,” he said.
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The municipal official expressed his sadness at the attitude of citizens during the pandemic when people died in large numbers, no one recognized the arduous task of gravediggers and cemetery workersdoctors and nurses were praised and deservedly, who are heroes, but the gravedigger who buried relatives in solitude, because not even relatives went to the cemeteries by protocol, with all the risk of contagion despite the clothes biosecurity specials that they used, fighting against a terrible evil, burying the morning, the afternoon, the night and the early morning, until now it has not been recognized by society.
