May 27 - Campaigners Say People Are "Genuinely Let Down" By Government Over Cemetery Disrepair
Today In Loving Memory has penned a severe response to Dr John Cortes, Minister for the Environment, criticising his lack of accountability for the situation at the North Front Cemetery. Eliza Victor, In Loving Memory Campaigner, said: “This isn’t about politics or point scoring, it’s about people feeling genuinely let down by the lack of focus on providing a dignified environment for graveside visitation.
"We know our response may seem severe, but we feel there is simply no excuse for allowing the cemetery to become as bad as it has. We need to ensure that the present Government, or any future Government, understand that we will accept no excuse for allowing the taxpayer funded maintenance of our cemetery to slip like this.
"We owe this to the hundreds of people who have signed our petition calling for the maintenance of the cemetery to be improved.”
The letter reads:
Dear Dr Cortes,
Thank you for your response to our letter sent on Tuesday 17 May, 2016 and for your invitation to meet with us. However we are disappointed in the content of the letter and feel that at this stage a meeting would be unproductive. Our single aim is to get the cemetery grounds in a reasonable state and not to take up your time trying to appease us.
Thank you for your response to our letter sent on Tuesday 17 May, 2016 and for your invitation to meet with us. However we are disappointed in the content of the letter and feel that at this stage a meeting would be unproductive. Our single aim is to get the cemetery grounds in a reasonable state and not to take up your time trying to appease us.
Your statement regarding not having received a complaint since 2012 has left us wondering, how have you become so out of touch with the public feeling towards the cemetery? There have been numerous complaints made on social media concerning its sorry state since 2012, including another petition that collected over 200 signatures asking for the introduction of CCTV to curtail inconsiderate users. Have you also forgotten dealing with Irene Gray’s complaint? Her son, an officer of the Royal Gibraltar Police, was killed on his way home from duty. She has had numerous accidents trying to access his vault, which she visits every Sunday and keeps immaculately. There’s also Steve Holmes who sent you a letter regarding the state of the cemetery in 2015. Whilst you claim that there have been a number of improvements over the past few years, you fail to acknowledge that under your watch the total disrepair in the cemetery has recently grown.
There are numerous people who are paid to ensure that our cemetery is consistently kept in a reasonable condition – from you, the Minister in charge of it, right through to Cemetery Keeper and the actual maintenance team - if there have been problems with resources, such as untidy contractors or inadequate staffing levels, something should have been done about them. There is no excuse for allowing the cemetery to get the way it has, the works you have outlined are certainly a step in the right direction, but ultimately you are accountable for the state of the cemetery and you need to make sure it doesn’t get like this again.
We will happily meet with you once the proposed works have finished and you have a permanent solution, which includes a robust maintenance schedule and regular assessments, to present to us.
Sincerely,
Eliza Victor, Kelly-Anne Victor and Ellen Chaplin
Campaigners, In Loving Memory
Campaigners, In Loving Memory
Petition can be seen on https://www.change.org/p/cm-gibraltar-gov-gi-improve-our-cemetery
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