CAY BAY CEMETERY CLEANUP AND RESTORATION BEGINS

Cleanup and rehabilitation work has begun at the Cay Bay Cemetery following more than 13 years of complaints from the Cay Bay Community Council.

The cemetery was damaged in 2013, prompting repeated community calls for action and efforts to identify the gravesites of loved ones.

The Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure is undertaking the project with the Community Council and SOL Antilles.

The work will proceed in three phases.

The first involves carefully sifting a large sand pile on the cemetery’s western section, which is believed to contain human remains and damaged headstones.

Any remains discovered will be identified, categorized and respectfully reinterred within the cemetery.

The remaining phases will include completing the new SOL jetty and restoring the cemetery’s eastern section.

Government says the project will return the cemetery to the Cay Bay and Cole Bay communities while supporting wider efforts to improve cemetery management across Sint Maarten.