Indebted Remains Face Exhumation

Facing a cummulative unpaid debt of $38,300, the remains of 425 graves in the David cemetery will be exhumed.

The David Municipal Council and Mayor’s Office approved a resolution that authorizes the exhumation of plots that have been in arrears since 1983.

“Unless the responsible parties settle or make a payment arrangement, we will have to opt for this painful measure,” said cemetery administrator Tomas Ortega.

Payments remain delinquent despite the low cost which includes a plot price of $93.75 plus the $15 burial service fee.  In the future, cemetery users will have to pay the $120 and three years of corresponding taxes upfront.

The 21-acre Municipal Cemetery, now filled to capacity, was built in 1914 outside of the old city of David.  Ortega urged David citizens to use the new cemetery where all the graves are similar and a strict order is maintained.

The exhumation of Saint Hubert in the church of Saint Peter at Liège, by Rogier Van der Weyden, ca. 1437.

La Prensa reports.