IT’S BEEN eight years since an MP proposed a bill to allow cremations in Cyprus. The legislation is still not in place but government officials predict, perhaps optimistically, that the island could have its first crematorium in about a year’s time.
That’s not a moment too soon for many British residents who have long been pressing for the right to be cremated here. In Paphos alone a petition demanding the right to build a crematorium bears 4,000 signatures. Many younger Cypriots support the measure.
If cultural prejudices are resistant to change, religious rites are even more so – and those surrounding death are perhaps the most sensitive and emotive. The idea of cremation is still a spiritual struggle for some. For others it’s often a simple, financial-based practical choice: a cremation cost less than half the price of a burial.
Currently, if you live in Cyprus and want to be cremated, the only option is to be embalmed, put in a lead-lined coffin, and transported by air cargo – accompanied by a relative – to your country of choice. The cost for sending a body from Larnaca to Heathrow is around 2,500 euros.
The expenses don’t end there. Once at a UK airport, relatives then have to pay for the collection of the coffin by an approved undertaker. Then there are the costs of storage, the service and final disposal. There are further costs if you want the ashes returned to Cyprus.
Typical of many elderly Britons is Dot, a recent arrival to Cyprus, who worries about burial. “Finding a plot for your last resting place is becoming almost impossible, and that would be a terrible responsibility to leave your children as they would have to deal with that and all the problems associated with it,” she said. “No, there has to be a crematorium and I am willing to go to Brussels and stand there and lobby hard for Cyprus to come into line with our basic human rights.”
A bill to build a crematorium was first drafted and presented to parliament in 2000 by Marios Matsakis, then an MP, now an MEP. Repeated requests since to find any trace of this bill have been greeted with a polite “we don’t know anything about this”.
Now, eight years later, a Paphos-based businessman is once again trying to ‘raise the issue’ and obtain clearance to build and run a crematorium. No licences have yet been issued because, according to Lazaros Savvides, the Interior Ministry’s permanent secretary, “there is no proper legislation governing the issue”.
However, Savvides told the Sunday Mail that Leda Koursoumba, the Law Commissioner, is currently gathering the relevant information and canvassing different ministries for their views. The Interior Ministry put forward its position recently, which was a “positive one”, Savvides said. The Orthodox Church is also said to be on side. “I cannot give a timeline due to several unknown parameters but my best estimate would be that we may see a crematorium on the island in about a year’s time,” Savvides said.
Sceptics believe that prediction may be too optimistic, fearing bureaucracy could stall the process.
For human rights lawyer Achilleas Demetriades the issue should be simple. “Just as people are given the right to choose a way of life, I believe they also have the right to choose the method of their disposal after death. This is not a rhetorical proposition; it is based on freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and is secured by the European convention on human rights,” he said.
“The Republic of Cyprus,” he continued, “should make provision for those who choose this manner of disposal whether or not they are of the Orthodox religion. It is freedom of choice that human rights protect, and the very absence of this choice makes the Republic responsible. We must now take steps to amend the law so as to provide the necessary permissions for a crematorium to be built. It is not a question of doing a favour to any particular class or creed of citizen: it is their right and therefore must be respected.”
For Demetriades, the Paphos petition with 4,000 signatures makes a quick decision even more urgent. “With such a serious block of individuals, all pro-cremation, it’s clear that if nothing is done soon, then these individuals can then make their feelings known by voting in the 2009 European Union elections for a Euro MP who will then have to take up their case.”
George Melas, who runs the Archangelos funeral home in Limassol, explained how he has to work with other European countries if families wish their relatives to be cremated. “I have many families who have to pay thousands of euros so their loved ones can be cremated abroad say in Italy, and yes, I do feel strongly that we should have a modern eco-friendly crematorium here in Cyprus, and not just for expatriates. There are many young Cypriots who support cremation as the only environmentally friendly manner of disposal especially on this small island.”
Lou Franks from Blevins Franks, a financial management company sees another dimension to the issue of moving a body from Cyprus back to the UK. “If a person has made it clear in their will that they wish upon death to be repatriated back to the UK, their estate will then be liable to Inheritance Tax,” he said. “The same goes if they request the ashes to be returned or, indeed if they ask to be buried in a British cemetery abroad. By expressing this wish to be on British soil, regardless of how long they have lived abroad, they once again become fully paid-up British citizens and as such the estate will then be liable to the paying of inheritance tax.”
Clive Turner, a retired British air force officer and chairman of the Kamares residents association, is one of the major movers in trying to push the government into establishing a crematorium.
“Inheritance Tax is another important reason why we should have a crematorium here in Cyprus,” he says. “I am committed to this project and as time is running out for many of us, we cannot afford to take the pressure off the government. The inheritance tax is a major issue for many, as is the environmental effect of a crematorium within our midst. But compared to those built in the past the one we are going to use is the latest type and does have a filtering system for mercury emissions – that’s key to it being eco friendly. I also want my family to be comfortable about dealing with my remains. It’s hugely complicated to get a body out of here and also very distressing as well as expensive.”
Keith McCready is the man charged with the job of building the first crematorium in Cyprus within the strict rules of the EU. I asked him if he had any hopes that it could be ready in time for me to test drive it.
“It could be ready in 18 months if the government gave the green light by issuing the appropriate licence and also allocate a preferred plot of land, away from residential areas. Around Paphos airport is considered to be ideal,” he said.
What about cost to the families of the deceased? “This isn’t finalised yet as we have to wait and see the price of the land, but the aim at the moment is to offer a full cremation service, memorial garden etc for under 500.”
Elizabeth Duggan intends to end her days in Cyprus and wishes to be cremated here. “Graveyards take up too much room and we are running out of space here,” she said. “With new technology available in crematoriums I wouldn’t even bother about living next door to one. I used to live next to a graveyard and believe the seepage of body waste into the soil is far more hazardous than any waste emanating from a cremation.”
Margaret Pascoe is a widow whose husband is buried in the UK. “He didn’t want to be cremated but I do. That’s the point — we should all have that choice.”
George and Cheryl Carter are both keen to see a crematorium built. “Funerals are only for the living, not for the dead, and to be honest I don’t bloody care what they do with me but cremation seems the best option here as the graveyards are not only full they are not in great shape,” George said. “The upkeep of a plot is also expensive and a huge commitment to one’s relatives. One should just depart and be done with it.”
Cheryl will certainly opt for cremation: “I would hate to be buried, and have always worried about those who have died of a disease and the impact that has on the soil and water supplies over the years. It cannot be healthy for the living.”
Cremation has been commonplace in many cultures for thousands of years. The funeral pyre was commonplace in ancient Greece and cremation has always been practiced in India. Even in Cyprus, the idea is not particularly new. Burial vessels associated with cremation dating back to the 11th century BC have been unearthed at Kourion.
