All the three major cemeteries in Accra – Awudome, Osu and La – are full and cannot take any new burials.

Dr Simpson Anim Boateng, metro health director of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), who disclosed this to The Finder in an interview, said henceforth, the dead will be buried in-between grave spaces as a result of the congestion in the public cemeteries in the Accra metropolis.

According to him, about 320 bodies are buried every month in the three cemeteries, but the cemeteries currently have no space for fresh burials; thus the decision to use spaces between existing graves.

The La cemetery receives about 40 bodies, Osu 120 bodies, and about 160 at Awudome monthly.

Dr Boateng explained that the assembly was also considering the re-use of the old cemeteries since getting a new site in Accra was virtually impossible.

He said, for instance, a portion of the Awudome cemetery which had been closed for almost 20 years would be reopened for re-use.

Dr Boateng noted that fees paid for graves vary depending on where the family wants the deceased to be buried.

At the Osu cemetery, the cost of an ordinary grave is pegged at GH¢500 while GH¢700 is paid for a special grave (vault). This type of grave (vault) is usually cemented before and after burial.

La cemetery takes GH¢73 for an ordinary grave and GH¢200 for vault while Awudome cemetery takes GH¢73 for ordinary and GH¢500 for vault.

The money realised from the cemeteries, according to Dr Boateng, is used in the running of the metro public health department, such as for the maintenance of the building, buying of chemicals for fumigation and cost incurred during mass burial.

He said the department also makes revenue from foreigners who die in the country and request for cremation. They pay GH¢1,000 for the cremation and GH¢300 for the export of the body.

Dr Boateng said since acquiring land in Accra is a near impossibility, it is important “to begin to move away from traditional burial to cremation.” The only crematorium in Accra, the Osu crematorium, is mainly patronised by foreigners.

“We should begin to encourage our people to cremate,” Dr Boateng suggested.