Dear Editor,

MY mother, Mrs. Agnes McLean, lived to the grand old age of 103 years. She was buried in the South Western area of the cemetery bordering on the small Street before Sussex Street close to St. Stephen’s Street.

She died some six years ago and I have always maintained the area where my grandparents and parents were buried, in the area bounded by the extension of Broad Street into the cemetery in the first cross street in what was the Catholic Cemetery. At one time there was a bridge connecting Broad Street into the cemetery.

The tombs of my ancestors have been well maintained and tiled and I take pride in what I do for those who went before me. I attached a photograph of what has happened and it is disgraceful. We can no longer reach the cross streets to visit their grave site as the area has become a garbage dump. The junctions leading from Louisa Row past Memorial Gardens and what used to be a beautiful monument has been destroyed and the small roundabout onto the cross street leading to a wooden bridge at Sussex Street is now accessible.

Garbage, old stoves, fridges, and tonnes of garbage and bags have been dumped at the junction of the extension of Louisa Row and the last cross street before Sussex Street is a garbage dump. I can no longer access that road to my mother’s grave site; even if as I tried to get around, by the Broad Street extension, when I got close they had dug a drain so I can no longer reach their grave site.

The entire cemetery is a garbage dump as the situation is being replicated everywhere, Cemetery Road ‘thru’ the cemetery and the extension from Broad Street are all dump sites. If you care to let your officers visit, graves are broken into, busted open sliding into canals and trenches. We can no longer see tombs and grave sites as trees of all dimensions have over taken all the areas.

It is a nightmare and a disgrace – bridges are broken contributing to the lack of access and the desecration of the sites. When I think that we had roads from Broad Street running parallel to Princess Street and Sussex Street, it could have been maintained and street lights similar to those into Cemetery Road be installed. At this time can we clear the garbage and make the cemetery garbage-free.

Norman McLean

Major-General (retired)