FORGETTING THE MOURNING AND FORCING TO PAY

A1+
[11:29 am] 10 February, 2009

The least amount of money needed to purchase a 3X4 meter area for a
tomb in Yerevan today is 100,000 drams. The death of a person causes
not only sorrow, but also material and moral damage if the family’s
monthly budget is not enough for that.

"I paid 200,000 drams at the cemetery and the Funeral Bureau. I paid
that much at the morgue and to buy other funeral accessories and I will
have to pay the same amount for the banquet and other ceremonies,"
told "A1+" resident of the Kentron district Vardan Grigoryan, whose
mother passed away recently.

Funeral Bureau representatives assure that the area for the funeral is
free of charge by law. In addition, the bureau issues a note to visit
the cemetery free of charge. However, at the cemetery, it turns out
that there are hindrances at the area. For example, we were told at
the cemetery office near the Silikian district that it is impossible
to organize a funeral free of charge in that area because it is in
a canyon surrounded by mud and rocks.

"If you really want to bury the dead free of charge, you must dig
deep down with a compressor because there are rocks underneath and
it will cost you 400 dollars," says the cemetery worker:

Based on our surveys, prices for standard size closed cemeteries in
Yerevan start from 700-800 dollars. For example, people have to pay
1,500 dollars for a "normal’ area at the Tokhmakh cemetery. In fact,
you have to pay 26,900 drams to the Funeral Bureau to dig a hole at the
cemetery, but you also need to pay that much to the cemetery diggers.