Chetumal Cemetery Undergoes Regularization and Infrastructure Improvements

Chetumal, Mexico — Authorities in Chetumal have launched a regularization and infrastructure improvement project at the Campos del Recuerdo cemetery, calling on families to check the status of their burial plots.

Héctor Escarcega, head of the Cemeteries and Funeral Homes Coordination, said the initiative aims to address the cemetery’s condition, which has suffered from partial neglect. The Othón P. Blanco municipal government took over management three years ago after the previous concession expired, and officials have since updated regulations to allow intervention.

Escarcega noted that more than 8,000 occupied spaces require updated documentation, with only about 50% currently in compliance. Families are being gradually notified to avoid losing their plots. “The legal unit of the Municipal General Secretariat reviews the documentation and issues the title,” he explained. “In 2023, we changed the regulations because they had never been modified. The new rules state that if someone falls behind on payments related to their vault, the municipality can recover the property, but this takes time due to administrative processes.”

Additionally, officials have issued about 500 notices to vault owners urging maintenance, as many graves are in poor condition—some even exposing human remains. Escarcega specifically called on families with plots in blocks 3, 4, 5, and 10, where abandonment is most prevalent.