The number of people choosing to have their body sent overseas for cremation has increased in the past year, according to a leading funeral company that plans to build Malta’s first crematorium.
In May 2019, a landmark piece of legislation was approved in parliament, allowing cremation services to be offered on the island for the first time.
More than a year later, there are still no crematoria operating in the country, but the passage of the law appears to have prompted a rethink in some people about what to do with their bodies when they die.
Johann Camilleri, managing director of Camilleri Funeral Directors International, says he has seen a rise in the demand for cremation.
“My family have been offering overseas cremation services for some 40 years but at the time it was not very popular, with one every five years or more,” he said.
“They were mostly foreigners living in Malta although the first one was Maltese. Now we are seeing five or six cases a month and some 20 per cent of them are Maltese.”
Camilleri, whose company has been in the funeral business for over a century, attributes this to a gradual shift in mentality, the low supply of graves and to the introduction of the new law making cremation legal.
Before then, Malta did not allow any form of human cremation, despite repeated calls for alternatives to traditional burial.
In 2018, Active Group, the holding company of Camilleri Funeral Directors International, applied to build a memorial park to include a funeral home and a crematorium near the Addolorata Cemetery.
The permit was not granted for various reasons, but mostly because there was still no law allowing cremation. Camilleri said his company will soon be re-applying with other investors.
Increased awareness of the cremation option prompted more people to consider it but were often put off by the price, he said. Now, negotiations with crematoria in the UK and Sicily have led to lower prices.
When a loved one contacts the funeral home to start the process, the home informs the hospital and coordinates the embalming of the body, which is then stored until the day of the flight.
A doctor certifies the identity of the deceased before the coffin is hermetically sealed.
On arrival in Sicily or the UK, the coffin is delivered to the crematorium where an agent signs an affidavit confirming the cremated body is that of the deceased.
The ashes are then placed in an urn which is later delivered to Malta or picked up by a loved one.
Overseas cremation costs between €5,000 and €5,500. A church service before the coffin is sent abroad would push the price up.
The cost of a grave in a traditional burial is €8,000 for multiple burials. The funeral itself would cost between €1,800 and €3,000, with flowers, music, car rental and memorial cards pushing costs higher.