Updated: Addolorata Cemetery extension proposed

It will be a crime against nature if the Nadur Church and the Gozo Curia do not realize the damage they have done and continue to do.
The bible itself (which is read on a daily basis by these same priests) clearly states "First and foremost the living come before the dead". The place of the dead is the crematory.

Do not continue to Damage God's most precious thing - NATURE.

Mr Briffa, cry all you want. The Nadur Cemetary will be completed by end of next year This is one project that will not go back as the plots are mostly built.

@ John Azzopardi Mr Azzopardi what are you talking about the new Nadur Cemetery is still under appeal and the farmers as third party had the right for this appeal…. Although the Parish priest Dun Salv Muscat is selling thumbs on deposit at the moment this project is not for sure that is going to be available!!!! Because an environment impact assessment has not been made from the Gozo church … We better have a crematory and leave the land for the present ones and the future generation….

@ Cristy Camilleri Hasra dak li qed jaghmlu in nadur... Kemm hemm sabih hemmek.... u veru ahjar nahsbu ghal hajjin ghandek mitt ragun.... Dak ic cimiterju tan Nadur hela kbira u mix billi jejdu ghax id design jaqbel ma l ambjent...u ghax ma saretx hsara lil art ghax kulhadd jaf li saret.... imma in nies respondbli jahbu biex jidru sbieh.....

@Cristy Camilleri
Prosit Cristy. Naqbel 100% mieghek. Ahjar nibzghu ghal- art HAJJA milli ghall-katavri!!!

8,000 Euro's eh. And people at buying plots at Nadur Cemetary thought it's a lot to pay 4000 Euros and the Nadur church was going to make money. Now, buying a plot at Nadur cemetary is a real deal. However, I hope that the Maltese don't cross over in droves to buy a plot in Gozo.

@ David Shciavone. I hear what you say about getting up from the table and going elsewhere if you don't like the food however it would be nice to have a choice of somewhere else to go to !!!!
Having the option of a crematorium won't change a thing for those who want to be buried. It has nothing to do with religion or christianity. It has everything to do with choice. The choice of deciding when you are alive, what happens to you when your time is up. Having the choice of choosing dignity over the macabre ritual of shoving a coffin into a hole in the ground and leaving it to rot.
Those lucky enough to own a family grave might think.''We are ok because we k now where our loved ones end up''. Have you thought what happens when the grave is full and has to be cleaned? Some have a space to put all bones to one side. That does not last forever and eventually everything gets dumped in the main crypt of the cemetery. So much for respect for our loved ones.

Please have some respect to the dead. I have no problem forking out Eur 8,000 to have a complete private grave. At least having said that we shall respect and love our roots, afterall we exist thanks to them. So lets bring respect and forget what you guys are proposing. Who wants any other option, you have the option to fly off Malta and do what you like. I believe in this saying - "If you are having dinner and you do not like the food, you can always wake up and go some where else to have something different".

Although we need to respect the dead and prepare appropriate places to them (who will be us in the coming days/months/years!), I strongly believe that it is time to start thinking of another alternative, Cremantion, at least for those who prefer it. It's understandable to look at new ideas suspiciously. But i feel that in the long run, it would be a great idea that will surely pick up quickly with a number of people. As it is, no democracy exists in Malta on our burial choices!

It is not true that cremation is expensive. Here in North America it is the cheaper alternative. While a traditional funeral and grave can cost up to $15,000 and more, a simple cremation can cost just 1/10 of that price. So why is it that in Malta that they are quoting these high prices?

As for the ecological footprint of cremation, I would propose that some entrepeneurs get together and buy the initial technology, perhaps with Government financial assistance, a solar powered crematorium which can be operated all year round (This is not so-far fetched as it seems since in countries such as France they have plants that melt steel by solar energy!). You can sell pretty urns for the ashes or have them scattered at sea.

Either way, once a person is gone, all you have is the memory. After the people who knew them are also gone, there is no more memory of them and all there is is mountain of bones which they keep in charnel houses.

The land should be left for use by the living, especially in Malta. This opposition to cremation comes from those that have vested interests in keeping the present system.

All this proves, if proof were needed, the Maltese obsession with death. It is a culture that exalts the afterlife, one that cannot let go. All this emoting about respect for the dead, not speaking ill of the dead, and so on. We must show respect to other, and to ourselves, while we can, while we are alive. Respect the memory by all means. But accept that once a person is dead, she/he is dead, gone. To spend money over the odds to show how much they are missed is of dubious value and serves no purpose. And all those angels - invariably with raised hands chopped off (in UK) - seemingly, and stonily, standing guard over a pile of bones is macabre and senseless. Cremation is the way forward. Someone argued that cremation is inadvisable in case a person needs to be exhumed for forensic (ie criminal investigation) purposes. What, keep cemetries going and expanding them for the remote likelihood of the need for exhumation? Indeed. It is an obsession with death.

Tahlux izjed art al mejtin, bir rispett kollu.
Bhal ma hlejtu fin Nadur Ghawdex. Inhlew 6 tmiem (tumna) raba ghal cimiterju gdid fin nadur. X hin diga ghandhom cimiterju kbir bizejjed ... plus mitt tumna raba ohra bis sigar li jamontaw al 5,000 sigra tac citru u 16,000 gallun ilma kuljum li hu gieri car daqs il kristal li gej minn gewwa mina li issa tinstab taht il progett.... sarret hsara lil ambjent kif ukoll lill ilma ghaliex ma sarx studju bizzejjed...
Tamlux l is stess ZBALL bhalma ghamlu in Nadur Ghawdex...

Lanqas haqq l-art li qeghdin nahhlu biex nidfnu katavri minghajr hajja. Ghaliex dan kollu? mhuwiex bizzejjed l-art limitata li ghandna Malta? min miet telaq u mar u m'hemm xejn hazin li jinharaq, wara kollox hadd m'hu ser ihoss xejn. Billi nidfnu gisem go kaxxa xejn m'hu ser iwaqqaf il-process naturali ta' dekompozizzjoni.....u x'jifdal? xejn hlief ghadam bla hajja jokkupaw art li tista tigi utilizzata hafna ahjar ghal min hu haj!!!!

No crematoria. We're Maltese. If you consider the land where are our dear ones are buried a waste, go to the Uk were cremation is widespread, but please respect the dead.

@ Vince Azzopardi. What does it matter how much it costs to be cremated. Those who choose to be cremated will undoubtedly make sure that the cost comes out of their estate. In the same way it does not matter that the cremation has to be at between 600 to 800 degrees. The furnace can cope and whatever fuel is used will be accounted for in the final bill I am sure.
You make it sound like burial is free !!!!! Well by my reckoning if one had to buy a grave it is going to cost 8000 euros and a funeral costs the best part of 2000 euros and that is a no frills attached one. I don't call that cheap, do you ?
At least with cremation we don't have to cope with open graves still containing the remains of loved ones while we bury the latest member of our family and have to endour seeing the old coffins collapse under the weight etc. This happened to my family this week and I promise you its not a pretty sight. Let us have choice and give our loved ones what they deserve and want.

I think it would be cheaper to fly your body abroad for cremation and have the ashes sent back home.

in 1987 I bought my house for €8000.

Lil dawk li jridu l-hruq tal-katavri wara l-mewt, tafu kemm tkun l-ispiza mhux biss inizjali biex isir il-post ghal dan imma r-running costs tieghu ? Tafu kemm trid tkun it-temperatura tal-forn biex jinharaq katavru? Naturalment dawn l-ispejjes imorru fuq il-konsumatur li f`dak l-istadju qajla jkollu aptit spejjes aktar minn ta` funeral normali li f`dan il-kaz se jibqghu ghax kollox jibqa` jsir l-istess bhal lum bid-differenza li min m`ghandux qabar ma jhabbilx mohhu biex jakkwista wiehed ghax kull ma jkun jenhtieglu xkaffa fid-dar fejn ipoggi urna bl-irmied. Insomma prosit lill-Ministru Dalli ghal din l-inizjattiva li qed jiehu ma `ohrajn ta` fejda. Kellu bzonn il-ministri li ghandna joqghodu fejn riglejn John Dalli kemm f`dik li hi kapacita` intelletwali wisq aktar fil-hila li dak li jrid jaghmel ghall-gid jaghmlu ghax ghandu l-hegga. Keep it up John.

Well done Minister Dalli.

A young beautiful American artist intends to sign a contract with a company that will cremate her body after she dies and compress her remains to form a diamond, made of her body. She wants to leave a lasting impression in the world long after her time comes to an end. A noble ambition...........going the wrong way.

With such a price and the lack of availabilty of cremation in Malta the only other option is burial at sea which would definitely be much cheaper.

A crematoriam please. This has been bandied about for many years now. But always seemed to get shelved.................. WHY?

I don't see the need for more graves. If Govt goes to satisfy public wishes for more graves it would have to expand the Adolorata Cemetery to the limits of Luqa and more. And where are we going to stop. This just waste of public land.

I would like to advise those experts in economics who think that a crematorium is economical and not so expensive to run, to get together and invest in such a project. Not even in Germany crematoriums are so common, a friend of mine had to be taken 8hours drive to be cremated.

I would like to be buried outside teritorial waters so that

no money would be paid afterwards. A couple of stones (cnagen),

recycled, for weight. Not paying that sum of money. By the way

when I am dead I do not know what is happening.

Why is it that minister Dalli keeps ignoring the need to satisfy the needs of everyone on this island ? Why build 9000 more graves when the land and the money could be used to bring Malta up with modern times and provide a crematorium so that we all have a choice and not just be dumped in a hole in the ground.
I do not believe that having a crematorium is not a feasible alternative. Besides those of us who are Maltese who wish to be cremated we must think of the other cultures who are now integrating into the Maltese community. A lot of them have cremation as part of their religious beliefs. What about their wishes ?
Once we have the option of cremation available more and more are bound to opt for it. To me this proposal stinks of some shady business deal . Paying 9000 euros for a grave is beyond belief and we should boycott buying any of these graves while putting the money to one side to be used on a decent cremation in say Italy. Mr Dalli, please wake up to people's wishes !!!!

The usual maltese gemgem at it again. Thank God someone is taking care of doing things the right way.

Such an uproar over a photo-shoot. Will there be an uproar again over this? Hopefully from the same people? People get the government that they deserve. People get everything they deserve. Because they refuse to use their brains and 'think outside the box' (oops! pun very much intended).

So lucky him who has the land where the project is planned, as there are 39million euros. AND what about if the land will cost the government more?? Will the price of the graves go up?? Easiest Way out,invest in a crematorium!!! and one last comment, GET REAL!!!!!!

8,000 Eur for a grave when the cemetary is in a pitiful state. We deserve better than that Mr Government, even in our deaths.

Not a bad profit - roughly Euro 4250 per grave. No wonder that a crematorium is not being built instead.

Dear Mr. John Dalli, a Crematorium please.

We should invest in a cremation system and not keep wasting land!

I sincerly hope that this project will start off with a well needed clean up and some training for the existing staff.
As for being self financing this of course is a brilliant idea from a minister with excellent bussinness sence.
We need and deserve more of the same.

Better first install some railings in the existing new cemetery part. Between one grave section to the other section below it is about 9 courses high. Many children attend the cemetry with their parents etc and trust me that we will soon hear about a fatality inside the cemetery.
Obviously the authorities will never be responsible should this accident ever happen!

My God,8,000 euros for a grave?
For a plot of 8feet X4 feet,just a slab to cover this hole, the govt, is charging us 8,000euros.
Im, more than sure that with this price, the govt,is not going to fork any capital,but on the contrary
he is going to gain from this project,
We are hitting the bottom line for sure

The Addolorata Cemetery should be close not expanded.

Has there been any studies about the options of cremation instead of opting for this extension??

No wonder no serious discussions have come forth as to the feasbility of building a crematorium....if I am doing my sums right the government will bag EUR72 million from this extension (9,000 new graves X 8,000 per grave)...Total cost of project EUR33 million..therefore EUR39 million in profit. Am I right in all this??

Certainly not on my wish list!