Dear Editor,
Here is a matter I’m certain fellow Lindeners will agree that the Linden Municipality should treat as being of some importance. On Saturday, January 14, I attended the funeral of Ileane Benjamin, wife of Linden’s first Mayor, the late Egbert Benjamin. It was good that it was such a beautiful day, since it does not make for comfort being at the Christianburg Burial Ground when it rains. On that day there were three funerals simultaneously at the ground. Now, this is not unusual; this has been happening regularly all along, and will continue to happen. However, the matter of concern here is that whenever this occurs, the situation becomes rather annoying and stressful because of the narrow stretch of road leading into the cemetery, and vehicles parked on both sides from the turn straight up to the entrance. Even with one large funeral one can imagine the chaos, much less with three, where the second and third funeral procession cannot get in without difficulty, worse yet the hearse, resulting at times in the dead being taken out and borne into the cemetery. This is not to mention many elderly and others who are too ill to walk, and who must either remain in their vehicles, struggle on their own or be helped along that fairly long strip of road. The confusion that double/triple funerals creates has been noted and talked about umpteen times, but to no avail.
Now once again with renewed and louder harping by residents, it’s obvious that the time has come to address this vexatious concern. While it may be difficult to do anything in terms of widening the road because of the residents who live on both sides, I still think along with many others that trees and bushes which have grown up on both sides of the entrance to the ground could be cleared, allowing for vast space which could accommodate some parking. Also, in this enlightened age – and again the views of Lindeners – why can’t there be some kind of decent rest shed in the event of rain for people who have travelled a long distance, arriving early at the cemetery, and are not in the best of health? Isn’t this a reasonable and enlightened request? In a conversation with the sexton he said that he had proposed at a council meeting (statutory) a long time ago that a toilet be built and a place where mourners could sit under shelter; he identified an area where this could have been easily done but no one paid him any mind. If only this little thing could be done, how good and pleasant it would be.
And what about the drains in the cemetery? One does not get the impression that any much maintenance work is being done. Though the grave may lack sting, some serious efforts should be made to ensure that this final resting place for the remains of the majority of residents be kept in a decent/respectable condition, lest some day the dead unite as a spirit force and rise up in rebellion demanding better home care.
Yours faithfully,
Frank Fyffe
