WORK on establishing a new cemetery for Honiara City at Gilbert Camp, East Honiara, is making steady progress.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare informed Parliament yesterday during the Committee of the Whole House scrutiny to the 2024 Appropriation Bill 2023.
Member of Parliament (MP) for Small Malaita Rick Hou asked for an update on the project because the project appeared in the 2024 budget.
In response, PM Sogavare said a local planning concept and road works to the new site have been done.
He said the new cemetery is located close to the proposed new hospital site at Gilbert Camp.
Hou said having the new cemetery completed is a matter of urgency for Honiara city as the current cemetery is running out of space.
It is understood that space at the current cemetery at Kola’a Ridge is already exhausted.
The need for a new cemetery was prompted by the increased number of deaths last year at the height of COVID-19 in Honiara.
Due to lack of space at the cemetery at that time, many families were forced to bury their loved ones at private cemeteries.
Some were forced to take their dead loved ones back to their home provinces for burial.
It is unclear when this new cemetery will become available for use.
By MOFFAT MAMU
