Municipal funeral parlors of Santo Domingo impact the economy of the poor
Nikaury Arias
They offer basic funeral services, transporting the body and its transfer to the Cemetery, the casket, cosmetics for the deceased and the use of the chapel for 12 hours
SD. One day after identifying at the Forensic Pathologist the body of his murdered sister, young Miguel Henriquez had to overcome his pain in order to face the arrangements for the funeral. His parents and brothers and sisters were completely devastated by the tragic loss.
"At one time we thought about holding the wake at the house (on a second floor). I started thinking.... To have all those people here. Too uncomfortable. In addition, it is a time when one doesn't have much good sense. Then.... I said that it was preferable to hold the wake at a funeral parlor," he narrated. Aware that his family did not have a funeral plan (a monthly payment to cover funeral expenses), and that at that moment, they could not afford the services offered by a private funeral home, on 29 May 2014 he went to the municipal funeral parlor in Villa Carmen, located in the sector of the same name, in the municipality of East Santo Domingo.
Miguel paid RD$7500 for a casket, the preparation of the body and 12 hours for the wake and visitation. Although the funeral car was included in this amount, it was out of service at that time, and he had to pay an additional RD$3000, in order for the administration to contract the company that would offer the service.
Even so, the young man said that "it was worth the trouble," because the services that were offered to him in Villa Carmen "are much more economical", in comparison to a private funeral parlor.
And it is that, if the young man had elected to hold his sister's funeral services at a private funeral parlor in the province of Santo Domingo, he would haveve had to pay between RD$22,450 and RD$30,000 for the same attentions acquired in Villa Carmen. This is to say between RD$11,950 and RD$19,500 additional.
The province of Santo Domingo has a population of 2,374,370 (2010 census). Of that number, 22,584 are poor homes, according to the poverty map of 2014 by the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development. This research establishes that in addition, East Santo Domingo and North Santo Domingo bring together the greatest number of poor families: 64,266 and 51,509 respectively. The lack of income forces the families with low economic resources to mourn their family members in small houses, many of them without a patio, a garage canopy or a porch. They have to occupy the street, and rent a big drop cloth to avoid the sun's rays. It is because of this that experts feel that the services that are offered by the municipal funeral parlors have a positive impact, in economic and social terms to this vulnerable population.
Law Num. 176 - 07 on the National District and the Municipalities, in its article 19, has established "funeral services" as one of the appropriate functions of the ayuntamientos.
Although not all of the city governments and municipal districts in the province of Santo Domingo administer funeral homes, they say that they help poor families with caskets, funeral cars, tents and plastic chairs.
"All the methods used by the ayuntamientos for funeral services are positive, but I am in agreement with the model in which the families contribute resources according to their possibilities, in order to guarantee them a complete funeral service, including the casket," revealed the former executive director of the Dominican Federation of municipalities (FEDOMU) Victor D'Aza.
Pertinent initiatives
For sociologist Cesar Cuello, the initiative by the ayuntamientos to build municipal funeral homes for the least favored social class is "very pertinent."
"Whoever enters into the social media and assimilates life, the culture, is important; and he who passes away is also important, for the footprint that he leaves," he explained.
The specialist said that the basic funeral services should be free. "We have to provide them for everyone. It is not possible to justify that just a few can mourn their dead in a dignified manner."
In this sense, he feels that since the city governments do not collect sufficient economic resources to carry out this type of projects, the state must collaborate.
The province of Santo Domingo has seven funeral homes that function under the municipal methodology. They are located in the municipalities of East Santo Domingo (2), North Santo Domingo (1), Pedro Brand (1), Boca Chica (2) and Guerra (1).
La Caleta (Boca Chica) is the first municipal district which has a funeral parlor in the province. In the meantime San Luis (East Santo Domingo), La Victoria (North Santo Domingo), and Pantoja (Los Alcarrizos) and La Cuaba (Pedro Brand) have the land selected for their construction. Villa Linda-Palmarejo (Los Alcarrizos), La Guayiga (Pedro Brand) and Hato Viejo (Guerra), have the projects on file.
Besides Villa Carmen, in East Santo Domingo there is the Municipal Funeral Parlor of La Isabelita. Both offer a funeral plans from RD$6800 up to RD$17,500, depending on the quality of the casket.
"The difference between us (the Municipal Funeral Parlor at La Isabelita) and a private funeral home, is that our principal interest is not the money, but rather that the citizen can be mourned in a dignified manner by his family, at a low cost," commented the administrator of the service, Sandra Terrero. This same interest moved the Mayor's office of North Santo Domingo to authorize the administration of the Espiritu Santo Municipal Funeral Parlor to provide funeral services free of charge, reported Carmelo Santana, an employee of the mortuary.
Before this measure, the mourners had to pay between RD$3000 and RD$8000 for the services, depending on their buying power.
Santana revealed that the administration is preparing, for presentation to the City Council, the "Municipal Funeral Plan," which consists in each family contributing RD$100 pesos each month to cover the expenses of the funeral services.
Precisely, this is the strategy that the Ayuntamiento of Pedro Brand has implemented since it inaugurated the funeral parlor in 2011.
Mayor Ramon Garcia pointed out that 800 families pay RD$150 each month, as a way of paying for the funeral. "In a wake some RD$30 or RD$40,000 pesos are spent, nevertheless, with the funeral parlor, they are not spending five cents."
In the meantime, in West Santo Domingo, the proposal of Mayor Francis Peña is paralyzed, because the ground for the construction of the funeral parlor is the object of a study.
"When the construction process began, it began to be seen that the ground was not apt for the design that had been made," explained the Department of Public Works of the city government.
Boca Chica will inaugurate. Guerra expects to improve
After claiming that the costs of private funerals are very "high," the Communications Director of the Ayuntamiento of Boca Chica, José Beato, said that they would soon inaugurate the first municipal funeral parlor in that locality. "The Mayor, in order to provide for the people that lose their loved ones, a dignified space, that is comfortable, in order to say goodbye, is going to open for service this funeral home for the community."
In the meantime, in Guerra, the residents can hold a wake for a person in the funeral home for RD$1500. The casket, the funeral car and the preparation of the deceased, are not provided by the city government.
"Because of the cost of a wake," Mayor Martina Garcia said that her administration has the intention of offering basic funeral services, through a monthly quota.
Government help?
For the Mayor of Los Alcarrizos, Junior Santos, one of the jobs of the municipality is to offer "a caring support" service to the most unfortunate families. This preoccupation permitted him to outline for next year the construction of the first municipal funeral home in that city. The investment, he noted, will be obtained through financing.
Nonetheless, he declared: "We understand that it should be the Central Government that promotes in the municipalities of the country of this type of investment, and then hand them over to the municipal administrators, because there are ayuntamientos whose income does not allow them to build a dignified funeral home."
The point of view of Santos is not shared by the executive director of the Commonwealth of Greater Santo Domingo, Onofre Rojas, who said that "it is the municipalities that have to promote the funeral parlors. What they have to do is demand that the government give them the resources that they need."
For the expert in municipal matters, the residents should have access to the basic funeral services, no matter the social - economic condition. "We have to dignify the poor, at least with a dignified funeral service." He stressed that the funeral parlors have to be prioritized even more by the city governments.
On the other hand, the former executive director of FEDOMU noted: "The Government should gradually transfer the resources to the ayuntamientos so that they can decide what the priorities are in their territories, and what are the social policies that they should carry out." He recalled that they are not complying with the assignment of 10% of the budget to the city governments of the country.
SD. One day after identifying at the Forensic Pathologist the body of his murdered sister, young Miguel Henriquez had to overcome his pain in order to face the arrangements for the funeral. His parents and brothers and sisters were completely devastated by the tragic loss.
"At one time we thought about holding the wake at the house (on a second floor). I started thinking.... To have all those people here. Too uncomfortable. In addition, it is a time when one doesn't have much good sense. Then.... I said that it was preferable to hold the wake at a funeral parlor," he narrated. Aware that his family did not have a funeral plan (a monthly payment to cover funeral expenses), and that at that moment, they could not afford the services offered by a private funeral home, on 29 May 2014 he went to the municipal funeral parlor in Villa Carmen, located in the sector of the same name, in the municipality of East Santo Domingo.
Miguel paid RD$7500 for a casket, the preparation of the body and 12 hours for the wake and visitation. Although the funeral car was included in this amount, it was out of service at that time, and he had to pay an additional RD$3000, in order for the administration to contract the company that would offer the service.
Even so, the young man said that "it was worth the trouble," because the services that were offered to him in Villa Carmen "are much more economical", in comparison to a private funeral parlor.
And it is that, if the young man had elected to hold his sister's funeral services at a private funeral parlor in the province of Santo Domingo, he would haveve had to pay between RD$22,450 and RD$30,000 for the same attentions acquired in Villa Carmen. This is to say between RD$11,950 and RD$19,500 additional.
The province of Santo Domingo has a population of 2,374,370 (2010 census). Of that number, 22,584 are poor homes, according to the poverty map of 2014 by the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development. This research establishes that in addition, East Santo Domingo and North Santo Domingo bring together the greatest number of poor families: 64,266 and 51,509 respectively. The lack of income forces the families with low economic resources to mourn their family members in small houses, many of them without a patio, a garage canopy or a porch. They have to occupy the street, and rent a big drop cloth to avoid the sun's rays. It is because of this that experts feel that the services that are offered by the municipal funeral parlors have a positive impact, in economic and social terms to this vulnerable population.
Law Num. 176 - 07 on the National District and the Municipalities, in its article 19, has established "funeral services" as one of the appropriate functions of the ayuntamientos.
Although not all of the city governments and municipal districts in the province of Santo Domingo administer funeral homes, they say that they help poor families with caskets, funeral cars, tents and plastic chairs.
"All the methods used by the ayuntamientos for funeral services are positive, but I am in agreement with the model in which the families contribute resources according to their possibilities, in order to guarantee them a complete funeral service, including the casket," revealed the former executive director of the Dominican Federation of municipalities (FEDOMU) Victor D'Aza.
Pertinent initiatives
For sociologist Cesar Cuello, the initiative by the ayuntamientos to build municipal funeral homes for the least favored social class is "very pertinent."
"Whoever enters into the social media and assimilates life, the culture, is important; and he who passes away is also important, for the footprint that he leaves," he explained.
The specialist said that the basic funeral services should be free. "We have to provide them for everyone. It is not possible to justify that just a few can mourn their dead in a dignified manner."
In this sense, he feels that since the city governments do not collect sufficient economic resources to carry out this type of projects, the state must collaborate.
The province of Santo Domingo has seven funeral homes that function under the municipal methodology. They are located in the municipalities of East Santo Domingo (2), North Santo Domingo (1), Pedro Brand (1), Boca Chica (2) and Guerra (1).
La Caleta (Boca Chica) is the first municipal district which has a funeral parlor in the province. In the meantime San Luis (East Santo Domingo), La Victoria (North Santo Domingo), and Pantoja (Los Alcarrizos) and La Cuaba (Pedro Brand) have the land selected for their construction. Villa Linda-Palmarejo (Los Alcarrizos), La Guayiga (Pedro Brand) and Hato Viejo (Guerra), have the projects on file.
Besides Villa Carmen, in East Santo Domingo there is the Municipal Funeral Parlor of La Isabelita. Both offer a funeral plans from RD$6800 up to RD$17,500, depending on the quality of the casket.
"The difference between us (the Municipal Funeral Parlor at La Isabelita) and a private funeral home, is that our principal interest is not the money, but rather that the citizen can be mourned in a dignified manner by his family, at a low cost," commented the administrator of the service, Sandra Terrero. This same interest moved the Mayor's office of North Santo Domingo to authorize the administration of the Espiritu Santo Municipal Funeral Parlor to provide funeral services free of charge, reported Carmelo Santana, an employee of the mortuary.
Before this measure, the mourners had to pay between RD$3000 and RD$8000 for the services, depending on their buying power.
Santana revealed that the administration is preparing, for presentation to the City Council, the "Municipal Funeral Plan," which consists in each family contributing RD$100 pesos each month to cover the expenses of the funeral services.
Precisely, this is the strategy that the Ayuntamiento of Pedro Brand has implemented since it inaugurated the funeral parlor in 2011.
Mayor Ramon Garcia pointed out that 800 families pay RD$150 each month, as a way of paying for the funeral. "In a wake some RD$30 or RD$40,000 pesos are spent, nevertheless, with the funeral parlor, they are not spending five cents."
In the meantime, in West Santo Domingo, the proposal of Mayor Francis Peña is paralyzed, because the ground for the construction of the funeral parlor is the object of a study.
"When the construction process began, it began to be seen that the ground was not apt for the design that had been made," explained the Department of Public Works of the city government.
Boca Chica will inaugurate. Guerra expects to improve
After claiming that the costs of private funerals are very "high," the Communications Director of the Ayuntamiento of Boca Chica, José Beato, said that they would soon inaugurate the first municipal funeral parlor in that locality. "The Mayor, in order to provide for the people that lose their loved ones, a dignified space, that is comfortable, in order to say goodbye, is going to open for service this funeral home for the community."
In the meantime, in Guerra, the residents can hold a wake for a person in the funeral home for RD$1500. The casket, the funeral car and the preparation of the deceased, are not provided by the city government.
"Because of the cost of a wake," Mayor Martina Garcia said that her administration has the intention of offering basic funeral services, through a monthly quota.
Government help?
For the Mayor of Los Alcarrizos, Junior Santos, one of the jobs of the municipality is to offer "a caring support" service to the most unfortunate families. This preoccupation permitted him to outline for next year the construction of the first municipal funeral home in that city. The investment, he noted, will be obtained through financing.
Nonetheless, he declared: "We understand that it should be the Central Government that promotes in the municipalities of the country of this type of investment, and then hand them over to the municipal administrators, because there are ayuntamientos whose income does not allow them to build a dignified funeral home."
The point of view of Santos is not shared by the executive director of the Commonwealth of Greater Santo Domingo, Onofre Rojas, who said that "it is the municipalities that have to promote the funeral parlors. What they have to do is demand that the government give them the resources that they need."
For the expert in municipal matters, the residents should have access to the basic funeral services, no matter the social - economic condition. "We have to dignify the poor, at least with a dignified funeral service." He stressed that the funeral parlors have to be prioritized even more by the city governments.
On the other hand, the former executive director of FEDOMU noted: "The Government should gradually transfer the resources to the ayuntamientos so that they can decide what the priorities are in their territories, and what are the social policies that they should carry out." He recalled that they are not complying with the assignment of 10% of the budget to the city governments of the country.
Nikaury Arias
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