“We Have to Bring Machetes”: A Bishop Asks Churches With Plots in an Overgrown Cemetery to Help Keep It

• Pye River Cemetery in Montego Bay covers 15 acres
• A Labour Day clean-up followed months of overgrowth
• Custos Bishop Conrad Pitkin urged churches with plots to help
• The mayor plans dedicated staff and official closure

Churches that bury their members at Pye River Cemetery in Montego Bay should help look after it, the Custos of St James, Bishop Conrad Pitkin, said in May 2024 after volunteers cleared the overgrown site on Labour Day. The Jamaica Observer reported that the 15-acre cemetery had been left in disrepair for months, making many graves hard to reach.

“Churches that have a spot in here with their members… will come on-board and help to maintain the plot,” Bishop Pitkin said. The clean-up removed trees and shrubs, a ramp was built for people with disabilities, and Jamaica Public Service workers helped clear heavy growth. JPS was also to install lights.

Antoinette Rosedom, who cleaned her grandmother’s grave, described what families had been facing. “We have to bring machetes and chop and come in and do what we have to do,” she said.

Mayor of Montego Bay Richard Vernon said: “Going forward we will be assigning dedicated persons to the cemetery.” The State-run site was officially closed after reaching capacity, although burials were still taking place, and the mayor said the closure would be gazetted. He said there were about 4,900 spaces across 13 other cemeteries in St James, enough for about 17 more years, and that discussions were under way about a regional cemetery or a new site within the municipality.

Burial land is one of the least discussed parts of church property in Jamaica. Many congregations have their own churchyards, and others rely on sections of public cemeteries, but both need upkeep, records and a plan for when space runs out. For Jamaican families overseas who still want loved ones buried at home, the state of the local cemetery, and whether the church can guarantee a plot and maintain it, is a practical question worth asking. Bishop Pitkin’s appeal suggests churches can play a bigger part in looking after the land where their members are laid to rest.

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