Gov. Charles W. Turnbull submitted a bill to the 24th Legislature this week asking that $1.5 million earned in interest on bonds be used to acquire property on St. Thomas's East End for a cemetery.
The need for more burial space has been known about for more than a year and pressure has been growing for the government to take action. Sen. Norma Pickard-Samuel raised the issue again earlier this year, and Acting Public Works Commissioner Wayne Callwood presented initial plans for a new 10-acre cemetery at Senate committee hearings this month.
In a letter to Senate President Almando "Rocky" Liburd, Turnbull said, "To avert a health and public crisis, we must move post haste to acquire real property suitable for use as a public burial ground."
The bill does not specify which parcels of land should be purchased, but a Smith Bay site across from Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort has been the subject of negotiations since 1999, when former Sen. Allie-Allison Petrus initiated discussion with the property owner.