A letter has unleashed chaos in the municipality of Verger. It specifies that the old part of the municipal cemetery is in the process of being declared a ruin and that the owners with rights over the affected niches have a period of 10 days to present allegations, otherwise the entire area will be demolished because "it is not appropriate » rehabilitate it.
The letters, with check-out on September 29, began to arrive at the houses last week, but they are still arriving. The result has been discomfort and has generated widespread disagreement, since if this area were finally destroyed, the construction of new niches would not be enough for everyone.
What does the Decree that regulates the declaration of ruin say?
The letter specifies that the supposedly dilapidated parts are the northeast, northwest and west 1º. These house a total of 319 niches, but due to the characteristics that the new niches must meet, they can only ensure 236 units. This data has led the vergeríns and vergerines to ask themselves: and what happens to those deceased who are not claimed?
Decree 39/2005, of February 25, of the Consell de la Generalitat, which approves the Regulation that regulates mortuary health police practices in the Valencian Community, specifies: «Those constructions will be considered to be in state of ruin when they cannot be repaired by normal means or when the cost of the repair exceeds fifty percent of the estimated cost at current prices for its construction.
It adds that "the Mayor will order the exhumation of the corpse for its immediate burial in the place determined by the owner of the right to the niche", but that, in the event that the owner does not determine anything, probably because said owner does not exist, " the burial will take place in the common grave of the same cemetery».
The response of the neighbors
They could have let the issue pass, but various issues come into conflict that have led those affected to organize to achieve the paralysis of the process of declaration of ruin and contain, for the time being, the final demolition.
On the one hand, and something that has directly outraged the headlines, is the statement made among those affected about having to pay for a new niche that would be built after the collapse. In addition to having to pay for the burial of the relative(s) located in the affected old part. According to one of the informant neighbors, the cost would be 450 plus 100 euros, respectively. However, no such statements appear in the letter.
On the other hand, the owners state that their ancestors bought the niches under a property regime in perpetuity, that is, forever. However, cemeteries are public domain assets, as stated in article 4 of the Regulation of Assets of Local Entities. For this reason, the sale in perpetuity is replaced by a demanial concession, that is, of said public domain. Something that comes into force from Decree 2263/1974, of July 20.
In this way, the concessions in perpetuity become a funerary right, and this does not imply the transmission of the physical property that their ancestors bought, but something that endows the owner in inheritance with the right to preserve the remains.
Another of the issues raised by the residents of the Verger goes beyond ownership and concessions. This depends on the historical memory of the town, on its heritage. As affirmed by the spokeswoman for the Popular Party in El Verger, Adela Moncho, the town does not have an extensive historical archive, since, due to fires, various records that contained the church and the town hall were lost and there is currently little historical evidence. Township.
For this reason, the organization of those affected and the citizens who support the paralysis of the procedure come to this reason to affirm that there are "mayors, doctors, municipal secretaries, lawyers, comadres, priests, women and men of the ordinary life of the town , to whom we really owe what Verger is and has today». People who are part of the history of the municipality, whose existence dates back to the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries and whose place in the cemetery must be respected.
What does the City Council say?
Various sources claim that certain rumors circulated before the summer. An issue that, according to Moncho, was discussed with the municipal corporation, which assured that it was studying how to proceed with the structural problems of this part of the cemetery. In mid-July, an information poster in the cemetery itself announced that the City Council had agreed to rehabilitate the affected niches due to their poor conditions and that those affected should present themselves to receive information.
The mayor of El Verger, Juan Chover, has confirmed that this poster has been hanging in the cemetery since 2014. The poor condition of the niches was an issue that needed to be addressed, but no one had decided to do so until now. It has been the mayor who has personally shed some light on the problem in an interview with this media outlet.
When he took over as mayor, some holders of the old area of the cemetery had requested the burial of new relatives in the place. Something that he could not allow, since the deterioration of the sites prevented it by itself. For this reason, the process of reviewing and determining the real state of the area began.
“We should not have issued the letters with such technical language”
Both the technicians in charge of the City Council itself and an external company examined the place. With the reports that were derived, which appear in the letters received, they began the procedure of declaration of ruin, since, otherwise, they had to allow the new burials. “Something we should not have done is to issue the letters with such technical language. I think this is what could have caused the greatest stir, because read coldly it can be scary.
Regarding the cost of new niches and burials to relocate the remains, Chover maintains that at no time has such a thing been stated. He contemplates the possibility of some informative comment on the price of new niches in a normal situation, but not in this particular one. So it would be this assumption that would have given rise to misunderstandings.
«In the allegations received and in the comments of the people, everything has been heard. That if we are going to throw the bones in a pit without any consideration, ”explains the mayor. To which he affirms that it is a totally immoral practice and that in no case would it be allowed. New niches would be set up, with each person perfectly identified and with several remains in the same location, but each one with their own space and always respecting their memory.
"Collapsed and collapsed niches cannot be rehabilitated"
Finally, Chover has wanted to specify that the project that would derive from the declaration of ruin is not yet done. So, it is impossible to say how to solve the problem and that what has been said so far is all assumptions and conjectures.
What it has clarified is that the bad condition is so real that some of the coffins from the highest part have fallen to the bottom. “Collapsed and collapsed niches by themselves cannot be rehabilitated. In any case, the deceased must be removed and relocated again », he regrets.
understanding and consensus
Now, with the arrival of the letters, it has been when the issue has exploded and has given the public something to talk about. The affected neighbors with whom this means of communication has been able to speak maintain that, for the moment, they had not received any type of explanation from the Consistory. For his part, the mayor affirms that all those who have come to inquire personally and have spoken with him have finally understood the situation "and have come away convinced."
The truth is that, at the end of this week, all the municipal corporations met to receive explanations from the City Council. After this, both Moncho and Basili Salort, spokesperson for Compromís pel Verger, were positive about the meeting.
Both representatives of the opposition affirm that the entire corporation in command is in a position to reach the best solution. And always hand in hand with those affected. For this reason, right now, from the City Council they want to send a message of calm to the citizens and they assure that they are studying the best way to meet with the neighbors of the Verger.
The reality is that they need time, both to explain the succession of events and to offer the different possibilities that are considered to conserve this part of Vergerí's historical heritage. What the three political parties involved are sure of is that understanding and consensus among all is something inherent to the problem. For this reason, Juan Chover affirms that he plans to meet with those affected next week.
