A new cemetery in Bodden Town, consecrated by the Rev. Rohan Forrester, minister of the Webster Memorial Church in Bodden Town, was officially opened Wednesday.
The new graveyard, which is just east of the Bodden Town Police Station, covers 3.75 acres, with continuation into an adjacent beachside property. In addition to burial plots, cemetery plans include a pond, cabanas for ceremonies, landscaping, fencing, walls and a car park.
Members of the public, government officials and church ministers were on hand for the opening of Phase 1 of the project, which has 24 new vaults built by the Public Works Department.
The group attending the consecration prayed for the new cemetery and the families of those who may be buried there.
“In the name of the of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I now consecrate and dedicate this ground to the glory of God to be set apart from all common uses, to be God’s acre in this district for the burial of the dead,” said the Rev. Forrester.
The creation of the new site followed concerns by the district’s members of the Legislative Assembly that Bodden Town’s original cemetery had reached its capacity.
“It will be quite a cemetery plot when it is all done, and probably end up being one of the finest graveyards in the country,” said MLA and Health Minister Osbourne Bodden.
Mr. Bodden was pleased some of the beachfront property, where people have traditionally been buried, had been preserved.
“Back in the day, all of the dead were buried on the seaside because white sand was valueless and easier to dig. Today, technology has changed all of that, with Cayman now having cemeteries on the land side,” Mr. Bodden said.
Being constructed in three phases, the project will consist of 900 to 1,000 vaults when it is completed.
The ceremony also marked the official handover of responsibility for the cemetery to the Department of Environmental Health, which falls under Mr. Bodden’s ministry.
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