The poor may never lay to rest their lovedones following complaints arising from the high costs of obtaining space at Rusororo public cemetery.
This comes after the recent closure of Remera cemetry (Iwabo wa twese) that filled up and closed down few months ago.
The public has since then turned to Rusororo cemetery currently serving as burial site to most city dwellers yet the vulnerable complain the prices deny them a chance to put their deceased relatives to rest.
Rusororo cemetery has 12 hectares of land with graves of burial ground at a depth of 1.4 meters and pathways of 60cm between the graves. Considering the large size of the burial site, the poor prefer to be exempted from paying grave fees.
“I have four children and fruit vendor on the streets. I don’t make much profit in this business. I cant afford the cheapest grave fees of Frw 15,000 excluding costs of a coffin, mortuary fees, flowers for the ceremony, cement to cover the grave and other burial costs. The government should intervene,” said Jacqueline Nyiramana.
Jean Claude Munara the Gasabo vice mayor in charge of finances noted that the prices were not exaggerated and were similar to charges of the former city cemetery at Remera.
However, she added that the prices of the graves range from Frw 15,000 a site below the main road, Frw 50,000 at the center and Frw 600,000 close to the main road.
“We have set prices for all groups of people and each has a right to choose where they feel comfortable, I really don’t think we have a big problem here, maybe some thought that new cemetery would be cheaper or for free,” she remarked.
The burial fees are only exempted from those who are recognized as vulnerable by the district management.
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