Outcomes - Selected Case Summaries
Categories
Cemetery management complaint
Investigation | 20 June 2023
Department of Environmental Health (DEH)
The complainants raised a number of concerns regarding the management of both government-owned and private cemetery plots, arising out of a dispute over the ownership of a cemetery plot on Grand Cayman. We noted to the complainants that issues of ownership of specific cemetery plots could not be addressed by the Ombudsman, however, there were certain areas of the complaint that deal with the administration of local cemeteries that were determined to be jurisdictional to the Ombudsman.
We first attempted an informal resolution with the parties involved, which included the Department of Environmental Health (DEH) which has responsibility for the management of local cemeteries. The DEH was very responsive and helpful in this matter, but ultimately we could not reach a resolution and a formal investigation was opened.
Two issues were identified for investigation:
- Is there a lack of established, written policies for cemetery works/plot construction?
- Is there a lack of transparent processes and policies regarding cemetery records and maintenance?
The Ombudsman’s findings were as follows:
Issue 1 – The existing policies governing cemetery works and plot construction lack specifics. They are not backed by enabling legislation or regulations, and the DEH has no enforcement mechanism available if the policies are violated. The public is also unlikely to be aware that they must check with the DEH before undertaking works on cemetery plots.
Issue 2 – There is no current legislation governing cemetery maintenance or burials in the Cayman Islands. The process implemented by the DEH for recording purchases of cemetery plots excludes any plots purchased before 1994. There is currently no written policy that sets out a dispute resolution process, either for members of the public or for the DEH internally.
Given these findings the Ombudsman made the following recommendations:
- As a priority, the Director of DEH should make a concerted effort to have appropriate legislation drafted which governs all aspects of cemetery and burial administration, particularly within the Island of Grand Cayman. The Ombudsman requests that first drafts of such legislation be submitted for our review within 6 months of the date of this letter.
- In the meantime, the Cemetery/Burial Review Committee should support the creation of cemetery maintenance rules to govern burials as part of the ongoing Public Health Act review to include a policy for dispute resolution. Draft rules should be concluded within a time-frame of 3 months from the date of the Ombudsman’s closing letter (15 June 2023), with periodic updates to the OMB during that timeframe on the progress of the Committee, and at the conclusion of the review.
- The adoption by the relevant authorities of any outstanding recommendations from the 2015 Cemetery/Burial Review Committee report
- The creation of a written policy for the public and DEH administrators to address the process for proving and acknowledging the purchase of cemetery plots before 1994.
These recommendations will be monitored by our office for completion.