A section of the May Pen Cemetery chapel, which now serves as housing for the homeless. - Norman Grindley/Deputy Chief Photographer

The May Pen Cemetery, situated along Spanish Town Road in west Kingston, is vastly rich in cultural heritage, yet remains neglected by the authorities for close to two decades.

It houses the remains of some of Jamaica's icons, including the late Collie Smith and men who fought in the great war of World War II. But all that now remain are hundreds of graves buried beneath a bed of vines, shrubs and garbage. The cemetery is also utilised as a convenient lavatory for humans and animals alike.

According to Mayor of Kingston, Desmond McKenzie, a total of $19 million is needed for the upkeep of the cemetery, but over the last five years, only $10 million has been allocated by central government to do the job.

"I don't think in the current expenditure for the Ministry of Local Government there is anything in the budget that speaks to the upkeep and maintenance of cemeteries," Mayor McKenzie said.

"And what we (Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation) get as revenue from burial at the cemetery is not even adequate enough to pay the staff for the upkeep of the cemetery," he continued.

Mayor McKenzie notes that most of the support comes from the private sector and from the Jamaican Diaspora and state-funded social development groups such as Lift Up Jamaica, which has pledged to build a perimeter fence around the cemetery and implement other well-needed repairs to the cemetery.

"They are going to carry out repairs to the chapel, repairs to the superintendent's office, to the changing room and the funds that we have raised we are going to use that to supplement that," Mayor McKenzie disclosed.

The roads inside the cemetery will also be fixed, and he also has received a commitment from the Correctional Services to provide labour for maintenance. He believes the cemetery, once renovated, has the potential to be marketed as a tourism product because of its rich heritage.

It is among the oldest in the region, dating back to the 19th century when the Reverend William May, then Rector of the Kingston Parish Church and a well-known proprietor in Clarendon, donated a plot of land for the purpose of a cemetery. Since then, a number of popular Jamaicans have been buried there. A monument stands in the cemetery in remembrance of those who died in the great 1907 earthquake.

"There are princes and prin-cesses and royalty. If you look at some of the tombstones you would be amazed at some of the persons who are buried there," Mayor McKenzie noted.

He said some of the founding members of the Jamaican political system were also buried here such as J.A.G. Smith.

"So it is an important piece of real estate with significant history, but because of the neglect over the years, people really don't give the recognition to the cemetery," he noted. But despite the neglect, the cemetery is well used and still has several years before it reaches capacity. This may be because the cemetery is among the cheapest, costing a low of $1,500 to a high of $3,000 for a burial plot.