Richard Morais, Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Members of the Ramble Community Development Committee (CDC) have secured legal backing in their bid to prevent the development of the Royale Rest Cemetery in Burnt Ground, Hanover.
The CDC yesterday filed an application in the Supreme Court for a judicial review of the case. It was brought on the instructions of Public Defender Earl Witter to attorneys-at-law Lord Anthony Gifford, QC, and Helene Coley-Nicholson.
"(The application) is to bring proceedings for judicial review as well as an injunction against the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), Delapenha's Funeral Home Limited and the attorney general in order to stop the development of the cemetery," read a statement from the office of the public defender.
Witter said he issued the instructions because of "the issues involved, the likely or probable infringement of the constitutional protection of the right to life and the enjoyment of property of a large number of citizens living in the area".
Witter said that, with the action, he was encouraging reliance on the rule of law, and discouraging the practice of addressing grievances with street demonstrations.
No communication
When contacted, Dale Delapenha, managing director of Delapenha's Funeral Home - operators of Royale Rest, and sitting Jamaica Labour Party councillor in the St James Parish Council, said he had received no communication concerning such an injunction.
"It is a good thing as it (the development) affects 36 communities, and the water go all the way to Negril, Westmoreland," said resident Keith Wilson of Chester Castle in Hanover, who was overjoyed at news of the court action.
Over the past six weeks, there have been numerous demonstrations and confrontations between the police and residents opposing the development and burial at the cemetery. They contend that the chemical formaldehyde - used to embalm bodies - poses a risk to their water supply.
They also contend that the consultants who conducted the environmental impact assessment, following a stop order issued in July 2006 by then Minister of Local Government and Environment, Dean Peart, failed to hold meetings in the community as promised. They said the consultants also ignored the evidence, which the CDC had presented, that showed that there was an aquifer below the cemetery which feeds water into the spring.
The public defender's statement also noted that "in November 2007, Minister of Health Rudyard Spencer, revoked the stop order and, on January 22, 2008, NEPA issued a further permit, which allowed burials to proceed".
