Adrian Frater, News Editor

Western Bureau:

The controversy surrounding the new Royale Rest Cemetery in Burnt Ground, Hanover, appears to have taken another twist on Tuesday night when gunmen shot up several houses in the area following a meeting between residents and Health and Environment Minister Rudyard Spencer.

According to reports reaching The Gleaner, about 9:00 p.m. Tuesday, unknown gunmen invaded the Shettlewood community and shot up several homes, injuring one person in the process. A young woman who got caught in the melee was reportedly abducted by the gunmen and taken away and raped.

"It would appear that some people did not like the fact that we had a good meeting with the minister," said East Hanover Member of Parliament, Dr D.K. Duncan, who was in attendance at the meeting. Duncan has been supporting the residents' position. "What happened here shows clearly what we are up against," he said.

Delapenha's Funeral Home has distanced itself from the shooting incidents. When contacted yesterday for a response to the shootings, Marcia Delapenha, a director at the funeral home, told The Gleaner that, "All we know is what we have heard on the radio. We were not invited to the meeting and we were not there."

The police have not made a link between the meeting and the shootings but said the matter was being investigated.

Report incomplete and flawed

In the meeting held at the Shettlewood Baptist Church, residents reportedly told Spencer that the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report, which was presented to him by National Environmental Planning Agency (NEPA), which he signed off on in January, was both incomplete and flawed. The EIA effectively gave the operators of the cemetery, Delapenha Funeral Home, clearance to start burying bodies at Royale Rest.

While congratulating the residents for what he said was their "commitment in defending what you believed in", the health minister made it quite clear that "I am not here to argue about who is right and who is wrong but to listen to and address your concerns."

However, as many probing questions came his way, Minister Spencer explained that because the issue was before the court, as a result of an application filed in the Supreme Court by the Ramble Community Development Committee (CDC) seeking leave for a judicial review of the NEPA decision to grant a permit for the cemetery, he was not at liberty to discuss some of the issues.

"I would have preferred if there was a negotiated settlement but that is not to be because the matter is before the court," Spencer told the residents, who have solicited the service of several noted attorneys and geologists to help bolster their case. "However, if you want me to deal with it then you know what you will have to do."

Ambleton Wray, the chairman of the Ramble CDC said: "We will have a meeting later this week to look at the pros and cons of the decision now facing us and take a decision as to what course of action will follow. Our ultimate aim is to have a peaceful resolution of this situation."

With tension now running high in the 30 communities surrounding the cemetery, there is now an increased police presence in the area. In a radio report yesterday, Police Commissioner Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin said he was aware of the situation and that it was under investigation.