Antique's memorial cemetery almost completed to cope with Covid 19 fatalities

SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique  – This capital town is ready to accommodate the interment of those who died of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) at its new memorial cemetery currently being constructed at the Binirayan Hills in Barangay 8.

NICHES UNDER CONSTRUCTION. The ongoing construction of the memorial cemetery in the municipality of San Jose de Buenavista, Antique. (Photo courtesy of San Jose de Buenavista MEEDO)

The construction of the PHP34.8 million memorial cemetery is still ongoing, meanwhile the remains of four Covid-19 victims have already been interred in the completed niches last month.

“Because of the urgent request of families whose loved ones had died due to Covid-19, we already allowed the entombment on the finished niches,” said Darcy Bungay, Municipal Economic Enterprise and Development Officer (MEEDO), in an interview on Tuesday.

1,446 niches

Once completed, the cemetery, which is constructed in the 6,000-square meter lot owned by the local government, will have a chapel, 59 mausoleum lots, 97 family plots or below the ground burial plots, and 1,446 niches.

Construction work commenced in February 2021 and is expected to be completed early next year.

While originally intended for residents of the municipality, the local government will also accept non-residents should the need for interment is urgent.

The local government decided to already open the still under construction cemetery since its new graveyard, which is adjacent to Barangay Bantayan with 2,005 niches, is already full.

Bungay added that the municipal government even provides free niches for the dead loved ones of indigents.

If the bereaved families are in a crisis or had been overwhelmed due to the expense incurred from the hospitalization, then the municipal government provides the cemetery niches for free. (PNA)