The Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) has announced a major relief measure for residents, deciding to abolish all cremation and burial fees within its municipal limits.

Colombo Mayor Vraîe Cally Balthazaar told Newswire that a decision was taken to completely abolish cremation and burial fees charged from residents within the Colombo Municipal limits during a meeting of the local council held on Tuesday (10 Feb).

According to members’ views, the proposal was presented by the Colombo Mayor and unanimously approved during the discussion.

As a result, residents receiving services from the Colombo Municipal Council will now be exempt from paying fees for cremations and burials at the Borella, Jawatta, Madampitiya, and Kirulapone cemeteries, in the sections administered by the Council.

Previously, a fee of Rs. 10,000 had been charged, which opposition and government members noted had caused severe hardship to low‑income families. (Newswire)

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Cabinet approval has been granted to publish the Burial and Cremation Rights Draft Bill in the Government Gazette notification and to submit it to the Parliament for approval.

According to the government, clearance of the Attorney General has been granted to the draft bill formulated by the Legal Draftsman to award the right to an individual to decide whether that person’s body should be disposed of by burial or cremation after his death.

In cases where such will was not declared by the dead person, the right to decide whether the body of the dead person should be buried or cremated is to be entrusted to the deceased individual’s closest relative considering the deceased individual’s preferences, and religious, cultural or personal beliefs. 

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal by the Minister of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms to publish the accordingly formulated draft bill in the government gazette notification and to submit it to the Parliament for approval. (Newswire) 

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Sri Lanka’s bilateral relations with several countries, particularly ones in the Middle East, suffered significantly due to the government’s stance on the COVID-related burial issue, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry said.

In an exclusive interview with Daily Mirror, the Minister stated that he had appealed to the Cabinet on five occasions and pleaded with them to look into the cremation of Muslims.

“It was a terrible thing to happen. I felt the worst in my life. It was an ordeal every day I went through when deaths occurred and bodies were to be cremated. I had sleepless nights. I went to the Cabinet on five occasions and pleaded with them to look at it,” he stated. 

Minister Ali Sabry further revealed that at the time the Cabinet had also opined that burials should be allowed. 

“Unfortunately, they have the so-called experts’ group. They were more than the world WHO experts. One is headed by Channa Pereira and Professor Meththika Perera. They opposed it without any science at all. It didn’t help anyone. It polarized,” he said.   

The Foreign Minister pointed out that this decision severely affected Sri Lanka’s ties with several countries, especially Middle Eastern countries. 

“It really affected our ties. Burial was allowed in the world. Ours is the only country that did not allow burials of Muslim victims of Covid. It really affected the relationship. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) officially condemned it. The UNHRC condemned it. The World Health Organization clearly made guidelines. So it was a very short-sighted decision which affected our relationship,” he explained.

Minister Ali Sabry stated that recently Sri Lanka had to reach out to so many countries and rebuild the affected ties.

“We are looking at Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, and Qatar. The Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister came in 2021. I went there this year. We have invited the UAE foreign minister to come. He had agreed to visit Sri Lanka. I have got an invitation from Iran, Morocco, and countries like that to visit them. We are activating the relationship between the countries. I am sure we can rebuild it and it’d be much better than what it used to be a year ago,” he added. (NewsWire) 

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