Monrovia – Every second Wednesday in March is Decoration Day and Liberians in every part of the country turn out en masse to clean their relatives’ graves but for some at the Palm Grove Cemetery, there is nothing to be cleaned.
Report by J.H. Webster Clayeh – [email protected]
Unlike in the past when Palm Grove Cemetery was seen to be a place of sorrow on Decoration Day, it has now become a death trap and a hood for hooligans with virtually every grave burst opened, making it impossible for some to have a smooth trip down memory lane.
Due to worsening condition, the government pronounced that they were going to relocate the entire cemetery but a source from the Monrovia City Corporation said that decision is being toyed with, adding that the government does not have money for such project.
A tour taken by FrontPage Africa saw a low turnout at the cemetery as many did not show up to clean the resting place of their loved ones.
Nearly everything had been scooped from the graves of many people.
James Sumo, a man who said he could not risk his life to give a facelift to his mother’s grave, stood at one end of the cemetery with paint and brush in his hands in disbelief before deciding he should go home.
Sumo said his deceased mother was buried behind President Joseph Jenkins Roberts’ grave. His siblings are out of the country and that for the past decade, he has shown up every Decoration Day.
“I came to decorate my mother’s grave but I am telling you that I cannot imagine myself going over there; I have not come to this cemetery to be buried in none of those graves,” Sumo said as he made his way to his car.
“Why every time we come here our relatives’ graves will be damaged? I will not come here until something is done about this situation. Either the government closes this place down or improves this place.”
The cemetery was fenced by the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) to prevent intruders from destroying the site but it turned out to be a hiding place for some narcotics users.
Esther Pamma, another person at the Palm Grove cemetery said she took the risk to jump over many open graves to reach her father’s grave. Although her father’s grave suffered little damage, she is worried about the present condition of the cemetery.
Pamma said the construction of the fence around the cemetery is the cause of the damage.
According to her, when the Palm Grove was widely opened, many addicts were afraid of being seen damaging the graves but added that the construction of the fence made it easier for it to be destroyed.
“This thing never used to happen at this cemetery like this; all the graves used to be in good look but since they built the fence high up, we are facing serious problem with the grave site.”
“If they do not want for the graves to be here, let them tell us and relocate our relatives’ graves but if they still want for this graves site to be here, they have to put in some measure for people to recondition their relatives’ graves and at the same time put some security officers to guard the place.”