The company behind an application to develop Malta’s first crematorium says it has been left in the dark over the government’s plans for the sector.
Earlier this month, Johann Camilleri submitted an application to the Planning Authority to develop a cremation facility on a plot of agricultural land next to the Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery.
This is the second time Camilleri’s company, Active Group Ltd, has tried to get the thumbs up for the project, with a previous application turned down by the PA in June 2018. Since then, a law regulating the sector has been passed.
Speaking to Times of Malta, Camilleri said that in recent months he had sent requests for meetings with Health Minister Chris Fearne and public health chief Charmaine Gauci but had so far not heard back on what the government is planning to do to address the need for alternative burial options.
A lot of interest from the public
“I understand that Mr Fearne and Professor Gauci are both very busy with the pandemic and other duties, but all we want is to have an idea of what the government’s intentions are for this sector,” he said.
“There is a lot of interest from the public and we are ready to step in as an experienced operator,” Camilleri, a fourth-generation funeral service provider, added.
His application, for which he says he has already secured investors, envisages the development of a crematorium complex with two underground levels and a ground floor. The complex would also include two mortuaries, a hall, viewing rooms, a cold room, and would be able to hold 10,000 urns and niches.
In May 2019, the government introduced a new law to allow the practice of cremation on the island. Before that, Malta was the only EU member state without a law on burial practice.
“We have been conducting cremations for the past 40 years in the UK, Holland, and Germany. This is a major investment and so we do not take it lightly. There is the local interest for an alternative, and we are ready to offer it,” he said.
The proposed development would take place in an area known as tal-Ħorr, marked as an Outside Development Zone area. It is a 7,000-square-metre plot that Camilleri owns, and he says the project will take up around 10 per cent of the land.