CHAOS AT MEADOWREST

It was chaos at Meadowrest Memorial Gardens over the weekend when family and friends from Greenwich Farm went to bury their loved one, only to find out no burial spot was booked.

The baby mother of deceased Carl Salmon — who was killed on Marcus Garvey Drive January 3 — said she paid a woman known as “Yvette” of Harmony of Rest Funeral Home, at 133 1/2 Orange Street, Kingston, $240,000.

The distraught woman, who is a mother of three, told the news that the package includes two television advertisements, which were not aired, a burial spot at Meadowrest, programmes and transportation to the cemetery.

However, on Sunday afternoon, upon entering Meadowrest, mourners were told that the name of the deceased was not listed for burial on the grounds.

“Yvette was coming with us and turned on Spanish Town Road claiming she had another funeral to sort out and we arrived here only to find out no money was paid,” the irate woman lamented.

“Is persons who were at their funeral gave us some money and we walk and beg and one family member went and withdrew $40,000 to help deal with it,” she said.

“Is $83,000 we must pay for the body to bury. We can’t take it back home and he has to be buried. Is me alone with the three children and Salmon was working with China Harbour and they promised to give something but up to now nothing we don’t get —” the woman lamented, her words cut off mid-sentence, in a rain of frustrated tears.

Salmon was later buried at the cemetery.

Efforts by the media to contact ‘Yvette’ were unsuccessful and the location was not opened for business when checks were made.

However, a worker at the cemetery who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the media that this was “not the first time that issues like this had happened with the same lady” and it was a recurring trend.