All Saints Day is approaching, and in a few weeks, the inhabitants of Bergerac will come to pray at the graves of their dead. The city chose this moment to remind Bergerac residents that they have to take care of the maintenance themselves graves in cemeteries. Until now, the guardians took care of keeping the concessions in good condition, now they have been ordered not to do so anymore.
The law is clear
On this subject the law is clear, recalls Marie-Claude Andrieux-Courbin, the assistant in charge of the service to the population. “We receive letters from people who are not happy, who say that it is not clean, that it is not mowed, but it is not our fault”, she says. The internal regulations of the cemeteries and the law provide that the city takes charge of the maintenance of the cemeteries as a whole, but no concessions. “They are considered private property”adds the chosen one.
More phytosanitary products
Until 2018, the guards maintained them all the same but since the cemeteries of the city passed zero pesticides, it became too complicated for the services. They can no longer spread pesticides all over the place, you have to clear the brush properly, and over eight cemeteries, 11 hectares, that’s a lot of work. From now on, the guards will therefore only take care of the aisles and the intertombs.
Signs will be posted at the entrance to each cemetery, in order to remind everyone of the law and their role. Ultimately, this will also allow the city to differentiate between tombs that were not well maintained, and graves that have been completely abandoned. In the event of abandonment, the municipality can take administrative steps to take over the concession.