January 22, 2010

I am obliged to write this letter to the residence of South Hill, North Hill and Sandy Ground, in particular, and the entire residents of Anguilla.

On the night of January 13th and 20th, 2010 at two separate political meetings, one at South Hill and the other at North Hill, a vicious attack was made on Rey’s Funeral Home which, to my mind, has been very damaging to the establishment and very misleading to you the listening public, both at home and abroad.

I would like to let those who may not know, I am a law abiding private citizen of Anguilla operating a business. I am not running for any political office in the election of 2010, therefore my business has no right to be used as a political football on any political rostrum. If there is anything relating to the business that any politician or any supporter of the politicians want to know I am always available to entertain questions or to give clarification where anything seem to be ambiguous.

Most funeral establishments are located in residential communities and/or light commercial areas since they are there to serve the local population.

I would like to outline the items of attack that were made at those meetings concerning Rey’s Funeral Home and its operators by a political accuser in District # 5:
1. Rey’s Funeral Home wants a Ľ acre of land in the Sandy Ground Cemetery to put a crematory to throw smoke and ashes on the roofs of buildings in Sandy Ground and North Hill villages, and that the deposits will contaminate their cisterns, which will kill the residence of the areas, thus leaving no land for the burial of persons with no denominational connection.

2. The Management of Rey’s Funeral Home has deliberately buried persons in the land of a private citizen without any consideration of its implications.

I will answer the accusations one at a time in the order set out above.

During the years 1999 through 2000, I conducted a visual survey of the cemeteries on the island that are in use, and it revealed the land space was fast becoming scarce, and so I looked at the options that could be available and affordable to the people of Anguilla.

In 2001, I made an application to the Land Development Control Committee for the construction of additional space at Rey’s Funeral Home, George Hill, to house a Retort, which can dispose of human remains in a sanitary and environmentally friendly process.

The application took the usual process of publication to the public. During that time I heard from reliable sources that there was a campaign by certain individuals living on the southern side of the funeral home for signatures to a letter of objection. There were four persons in the area who gave me a call and also visited me to gather information about the advantages and disadvantages of the project would be. After their visit they were satisfied that what was told to them, was not the way the retort works and so they did not sign the objection letter.

As a result of the objection letter the Land Development Control Committee deferred the application. At a later date they sent me a correspondence requesting an Environmental Impact Study. I then made contact with a professional in that field of business, soliciting a quotation and time frame for such a service.
The gentleman replied to my request, giving me the cost of the Environmental Impact Study and time it will take for completion. The cost of the study was not feasible at the time.

After seven years of silence, I made contact once again with the Land Development Control Committee in June 2008. Early in July 2008 I received a letter from the Department of Physical Planning dated June 30th, 2008 informing me that the application was deferred for discussion regarding the possibility of considering alternative sites for the locating of the crematorium. I contacted the Department of Physical Planning once again letting them know I have no alternative site to offer. On April 20th 2009, I received another correspondence for the Department of Physical Planning again telling me that at the meeting of April 1st, 2009 the application was again deferred.

I contacted my Attorney who sent a letter to the Secretary of the Land Development Control Committee on April 24th, 2009. Out of that letter, a meeting was arranged by the Secretary for my Attorney and I on May 11th, 2009. Out of that meeting the Sandy Ground Cemetery was suggested as an alternative site. It was understood that it would have to include discussion with the Government of Anguilla. In order to approach the Government all the facts and needs would have to be known, so that they could be presented to the Government. My application for George Hill was never withdrawn, it has always been there. In order to move an alternative site forward to the Committee, there has to be certain plans to submit with the application. Among them are location and site plans, which must show the floor area of any structure, with access and parking. This is where the Ľ acre of land for such a use came from.

As regards the smoke and ashes on roofs of building and ashes contaminating the cisterns which will kill people.

The equipment emission levels are less than half the allowable standards to ensure environmental quality. All machinery that performs combustion, whether automobiles, diesel trucks, lawn mowers, weed eaters or (furnaces or crematories) gives off byproducts referred to as particulate matter. The byproducts are not visible, nor is there an odour of the material being combusted. Residents of the area where the proposed crematory will be sited will not be aware that the equipment is operating, so there is no impact on the local community.

The cremation process takes 2 to 3 hours and is smokeless and odourless. The body is totally consumed by intense heat and flame. The skeletal framework is reduced thus leaving the hard tissue to bone fragments and particles called cremated remains. There is no ash deposit to go on roofs. What the family receives is normally spoken of as ashes but in truth is cremated remains. I knew from former experiences that Sandy Ground cemetery made no investment sense because I would have to purchase and construct all that I already have at George Hill. It would be a crazy decision for me to make so to say it clearly I do not have any intention to put a crematory in the Sandy Ground cemetery.

I will now deal with the second accusation concerning Sandy Ground Cemetery.

The second item, which speaks to deliberately burying persons on private land, is being malicious and irresponsible. The political accuser created some big mistakes at the said cemetery when he was in Government. He sent a backhoe machine to clean the cemetery without any supervision, which resulted in the flattening of all the graves, the removal of all grave markers, and the removal of all the large trees, which were the demarcation of the south boundary line of that cemetery. The trees that were left standing conveyed a false impression of the south boundary line. Now for your information this is a cemetery with no cemetery keeper, there is no one to direct any order or give any direction. If a family selects a spot be it under a tree, or otherwise, a grave is dug or a concrete vault is constructed.

The mistake referred to, happened because the accuser was irresponsible. There are a number of people who have lost the grave lots of their loved ones due to that mad instruction, to clean a cemetery that they knew nothing about. There are persons who are still living with the pain of not being able to visit and put a flower on the grave of their loved ones.

Cremation is sanitary, clean, and environmentally friendly (smokeless). It is less expensive than earth burial, it will be affordable by all and will save land.

I do hope that this letter will clarify the items of accusation that others have been twisting and using to mislead the people of South Hill, Sandy Ground and North Hill, in particular, and the remainder of the people of Anguilla. I think the time has come when seasoned and aspiring leaders should be truthful and desist from irresponsible speech and, where there is doubt, or not enough understanding, or information of a particular product, service, or business, they should ask.

In conclusion, I must say, I have served the people of Anguilla in many ways, and it has always been my guide in whatever services I render to do it well and to the best of my ability. I have always respected the leaders of Anguilla, but whenever unnecessary damaging and irresponsible speech is used to attack me, my family and my business, I will definitely respond to such attacks.

Sincerely
Hugo Rey

| Printer-friendly page | Send this article to a friend |

World News