CAY BAY CEMETERY CLEANUP TO BEGIN
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Stakeholder representatives, from left to right Mr. Jay Haviser (Director of SIMARC), Ms. Sharon Cangieter (President of the Cay Bay Community Council), Mr. Robert-Jan James (General Manager of SOL Antilles), Mr. Patrice Gumbs (Minister of VROMI), representatives of SOL and CGC, Mr. Angel Meyers (Acting Head of Infrastructure), and Ms. Joy Arnell (Secretary-General VSA) during the mobilization meeting last weekend.
SINT MAARTEN (GREAT BAY) - The Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure (VROMI), in collaboration with the Cay Bay Community Council and SOL commenced cleanup of Cay Bay Cemetery yesterday August 11th.
The works follows from well over 13 years of unanswered complaints from the Cay Bay Community Council following the destruction of the cemetery in 2013. The Cay Bay Community Council first approached the Minister in 2024 with their concerns about the state of the Cay Bay cemetery following their calls for persons to identify the grave sites of their loved ones.
As part of the Ministry’s efforts to address burial shortages, Minister Gumbs supported the community’s call and brought SOL to the table to jointly carry out the works currently being undertaken to clean up and rehabilitate the cemetery.
The works are being carried out in three phases. Phase 1 will entail the sifting of the large sand pile on the western half of the cemetery. This sand pile is believed to contain remains as well as desecrated headstones.
If remains are found they will be identified, categorized, and reinterred in an appropriate manner within the cemetery. Phases 2 and 3 will include the finalization of the new SOL jetty and the restoration of the eastern half of the cemetery, respectively.
The restoration will return the cemetery to the people of Cay Bay and Cole Bay and pilot the Government’s efforts to regulate and upgrade management of cemeteries.