A number of people renting burial plots at a Pembroke church are in grave danger of having their final resting sites repossessed for non-payment.

St. John's Church warden Leslie Wilson Sr. explained that some graves in the church cemetery were being repossessed because those who leased them had essentially abandoned the sites and had not paid their maintenance fees for at least three to four years.

"Our Canons allow us to repossess graves three years after the families haven't paid maintenance, but we don't repossess until after four years have passed,'' said Mr. Wilson.

"We can then lease it to another family and I believe there's a waiting list.'' Mr. Wilson explained that people can lease grave spaces so that family members can be buried together in the same basic plot.

He said although the church could not refuse burial, they could not guarantee that family members will be buried in the same grave unless the grave is leased.

"It's a family thing... as long as your maintenance fees are paid, you have the right to choose whoever goes there,'' he said.

"For example, if you were leasing a grave with two spaces available and you were to pass, you'd be put there and your next of kin would begin making the payments.

"So if your next of kin keeps up the payments, then that grave can be in your family for a lifetime.'' And Mr. Wilson noted that if a person lived long enough, more spaces could become available in the grave because the remains settle after time.

"Earth to earth is a true saying,'' he added. But he assured that when graves are repossessed, the "remains remain''.

"There are times when we clean out a grave. We clear out what's left of the wood (from the coffin) but the skeleton remains -- they don't go to any other place,'' said Mr. Wilson.

But the church warden found out that iron caskets did not disintegrate like wooden ones, and not many remains can be buried in the grave under those circumstances.

"With some graves that we've repossessed, we've taken out the iron casket, but the skeleton remains,'' he said.

However, Mr. Wilson said many of the graveyards in Bermuda were running out of space, and cremation may soon need to become an option on the Island.

"Most of us who have any experience with graves can see that the writing is on the wall -- something is going to have to be done,'' he said.

"(Cremation) will have to be thought of very seriously in the next few years.'' DEATH OBITUARY OBT