Seaga's personal quest at cemetery

JAMAICA LABOUR Party (JLP) leader and West Kingston Member of Parliament, Edward Seaga yesterday expressed his vision of seeing the May Pen Cemetery returned to its premier state, and has called on relatives of persons buried there to take the first step towards restoring the century-old cemetery by painting the graves and headstones.

Mr. Seaga who visited the site yesterday with the intention of identifying his grandparents' graves, noted the focus of the clean-up exercise identified as the Kingston and St Andrew parish project, is "to re-establish the May Pen Cemetery to its formerly spectacular state".

"It's a different project from cleaning up, which everybody is doing. We are focusing on cleaning up to the extent where people will be able to trace their families," he said.

A team of local government representatives, among them Mayor of Kingston, Marie Atkins, Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC) Town Clerk, Errol Greene, and Jamaica Labour Party councillor Desmond McKenzie visited Mr Seaga's family plot.

The canopied graves with headstones bearing the names, George H. Seaga and Kateby George Seaga, were evident, but parasitic "love bush" had invaded the fencing and area surrounding the graves. Mr. Seaga requested the work crew clean up the area.

Mr. Seaga highlighted the wealth of history contained in the cemetery, which he said had generated interest from several universities and academics who requested a chance to conduct studies of the cemetery. One study is already being done by a local researcher, superintendent of the cemetery, Dennis Messias disclosed.

"There's a lot of history in this place. In those days, May Pen Cemetery was where everybody was buried. Many persons in America want to come and pay their respects to their family, but we have to maintain it," Mr. Seaga said.

In December last year, the government allotted $5.5 million under the Lift Up Jamaica programme, for the cleaning up of the May Pen Cemetery following public outcry surrounding the discovery of decomposing bodies dumped in the badly overgrown cemetery in late October.

The KSAC said it had just concluded the clean-up of the cemetery to the tune of $7 million.

"But this place is very fertile. The other day you couldn't see across there," Mr. Greene noted, pointing to an area of the cemetery which now provides a clear view of the tombs and graves, some of which date back to the 1920s.

One grave that generated some interest was a tombstone with Greek inscription. Another had a Muslim inscription. The remnants of the days when May Pen Cemetery was the equivalent of a Dovecot, are evident in the intricate stone statuettes and other stone work and marble graves now partially hidden under earth and undergrowth.

In 1938, a bronze medal said to belong to Napoleon Bonaparte was also found in the cemetery.

According to KSAC representatives, the cemetery contains the remains of prominent Jamaican families and figureheads such as the Vazes, Munns and the Seagas. One Mayor is also buried there, as well as great West Indian cricketer, Collie Smith, A.G.S. Coombs who was a federal member of Parliament, J.A.G. Smith Snr. and the father of The Gleaner was told.

"I'd like to invite people to identify their family's graves and come in an paint it . If we get it painted up properly, the place would be spectacular," Mr. Seaga noted.

The theme of the Labour Day activities was "One Love ... One Clean Community". The Labour Day activities were planned as a nationwide clean-up campaign which the government says will continue into August in preparation for Jamaicans returning for the National Independence and Emancipation celebrations.

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