The terrible state of the deteriorating situation of cemeteries in the Gouves Township has been brought to the attention of The Khronicles by several irate residents.

One of those deeply concerned is Kerasia Andrianaki of Gournes, who was recently notified by township officials that the remains of her father, Yiorgos, who passed away exactly three years ago (October 22), would soon be removed to make room for another body.

Loved one Mrs. Andrianaki tells The Khronicles of her concerns

"I tried to buy a burial plot in our home village of Gournes, but was told that there were none available," the distraught Mrs. Andrianaki told this reporter. "In that short period of time I'm told that my father's body might not even be completely decomposed. I am very upset!"

Mrs. Andrianaki said that of the 40 graves at the Gournes cemetery, half are family owned and the other half are community graves. 

"In a village with so many elderly people, this situation is incomprehensible," she said. "When the three years are up – and in this case it was exactly three since my father passed away on October 22 – on any given day, you can expect a call from the demos and you have only 24 hours to get on with exhuming the remains and going through the process so that the next person can be buried.  After the remains are processed with chemicals, they are put in a box, which you must purchase, and the box is kept at the ossuary which, by the way, is kept locked so you can't just go and pay your respects when you feel the need to do so. This is a terrible ordeal to put a family through, and the township must find an immediate solution."

Gouves Mayor Yiorgos Nikolakakis said that he is very sensitive on the cemetery situation of his township.

"Throughout the Demos, wherever possible, we have purchased land, like in Kalo Horio and Vathia, and we are now negotiating for Elia and Gouves," he said.  "In Gournes, however, we had a problem finding land big enough, but we now have 20 stremmata in the back of the village where the river passes."

Mr. Nikolakakis said the town has already designed a large urban cemetery for that area, which will be available to the entire municipality because cemeteries in beachfront villages are filled to capacity.

"We now are waiting for the city planning to be signed, as well as the papers of the planning studies, involving municipal land use," the Mayor explained. "Then we can go ahead, providing we have the budget for the project. We have gone as far as deciding that the plots will cost 500 euros each and have made provisions so that family plots will be made available, too."

The Gouves Township, the largest on Crete, has more than 8,000 permanent residents living on 94,963 stremmata of land. Presently, there are 11 cemeteries, many of which are overcrowded.

While recognizing that all cemeteries are in the jurisdiction of the Municipal Government, local parish priests have spoken out on the sensitive situation.

"It is well known that in the past few years there has been a mounting lack of space," said Father Leonidas Hatzakis of the Gournes parish. "Given the continuing growth of the region, a direct solution to this sensitive problem must be found for our local parishes in Gournes."

The Gournes cemetery: no more room

On the subject of the cemetery in Pano Gouves, father Dimitrios Mihoudis commented that his parish is satisfied, so far, with the cooperation of the municipal government.

"The space of our cemetery has been improved considerably compared to what we had in the past," he said. "However, many parishioners and long-time residents are seeking to extend the courtyard, and doing away with the front line of graves which are too close to the entrance of the church. Also, we must do away with the "arbitrary" graves situated in the middle of walkways, thus preventing access to other graves."

Yiorgos Sotirhos, founder of Sotirhos Funeral Homes, in Gouves and Neapolis says the Cretan cemeteries in general are insufficient and saturated, so that people do experience many problems in burying and later exhuming their loved ones.

"According to the law, disinterring must take place in three years," Mr. Sotirhos said. "However, families can get extensions for various reasons of up to eight years before exhuming their loved ones. Some of these extensions are needed because due to the chemicals and pesticides used in the soil, or sometimes due to medications, decay doesn't occur in the time allotted."

He also stated that most cemeteries in our regions are incompletely maintained, and suggested that municipal governments take the advice of the funeral parlour work-crews and not the architects because "we have the appropriate knowledge."

Mr. Sotirhos went on to point out that the Gournes cemetery has a problem with "arbitrary" graves and lacks water installations. 

"In general, our cemeteries lack sufficient electricity, fire prevention measures and have poorly designed paths along the graves which make it impossible for loved ones to walk."

Meanwhile, a Presidential Decree was announced this year, determining the conditions for the creation of cremation centres, which is seen by many as a solution to overcrowded cemeteries.

This decree states the following:  "The creation, maintenance and operation of these centres belong entirely to the local governments and the management of these centers must be practiced by municipal and community legal persons of public justice."

According to Mr. Sotirhos, there are already two private crematoriums, one in Athens and the other in Thessaloniki, that have the proper operating license and follow all the necessary sanitation conditions.

While cremation is frowned upon by the Orthodox Church, many Greeks have said that it should be the right for anyone who so wishes.

"The Church of Greece has accepted cremation in our country, but only for foreign nationals and people from other religions," the church said in a statement. "For a Greek orthodox the church recommends the only correct way for a body to decompose is in the grave – according to church tradition."