No prices have yet been set for the sale of graves at the planned extension of Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery but almost 400 prospective owners are lined up.
The Health Ministry said a legal notice would be published “in the coming months” setting the maximum sale price of the new graves.
The extension for 2,880 more graves was approved by the Planning Authority in February this year and the government is seeking a private partner for the €16 million project.
But there are already 392 prospective buyers, who had entered into a promise of sale agreement in early 2013 after they answered a public call made the previous year.
The concession would be for 15 years and the private investor would be responsible for the maintenance and running costs
The prospective buyers had paid a deposit of €2,500 for graves that had to be built according to government plans outlined in 2012. At the time, the sale price of each new grave was estimated to be some €5,000.
A spokeswoman for the ministry said these promise of sale agreements had to be regularised since they were never registered officially by the previous administration.
The Health Ministry said the capital expenditure for theAddolorata project would be the responsibility of the private partner. Besides the construction of the Addolorata extension, a minimum of €6 million needs to be spent on restoration of the existing cemetery.
The spokeswoman said the concession would be for 15 years and the private investor would be responsible for the maintenance and running costs. The concessionaire would have to complete the works within two years of the contract being signed.
A prequalification questionnaire for those interested in the project was published last month with a deadline of October 25.
Morbid as it may sound, the demand for graves has been the subject of controversy for more than a decade as plans to make more available at the public cemetery kept being shelved.
There are almost 7,000 people on a waiting list for graves, with some applications going back more than 15 years. Almost 5,000 of these want a grave at the Addolorata cemetery. Plans to build 2,000 graves at Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery were first announced before the 2008 election but were shelved.
The project was subsequently re-dimensioned after the election with the idea of roping in a private investor to manage the cemetery.
The €33 million project had to cater for 9,000 graves – to be sold at €8,000 each – and the restoration of the existing cemetery.
However, even this plan was shelved and, prior to the 2013 election, the government announced a less ambitious project to erect some 3,000 graves at a price of €5,000.
Fresh plans for an extension at the public cemetery were submitted in 2014 and the Planning Authority gave the go ahead this year.
The site of the new extension abuts the existing cemetery at the southern flank and it will adhere to the existing cemetery’s layout design.
The 150-year-old Addolorata cemetery with a neo-gothic style church was designed by architect Emanuele Luigi Galizia. It was consecrated on May 9, 1869 and is the largest public cemetery on the island.