BELGROVE’S Funeral Home is now offering cremations in Tobago.
Branch manager Sonia Whitlock made the announcement on the Tobago Updates morning show on March 6.
She said operations began on March 1 at the funeral home’s head office in Lambeau.
“Tobago, at last, Belgrove's Funeral Home is now offering officially cremation services on the island. With this service, we will be the only crematorium on the island,” Whitlock said.
Belgrove’s opened its doors to the Tobago public some 12 years ago.
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Whitlock said the service will allow grieving families to be relieved of the burden of having to travel to Trinidad to have their loved ones cremated.
She added cremations also provide an option for families, given the challenges associated with the lack of burial space at cemeteries across the island.
“We see, at the cemeteries in Tobago, there is limited space based on the amount of deaths on the island. So cremation will also help in assisting burial space issues and it aids in them (mourners) being able to plan effectively for that memorial service in honour of their loved ones.”
Whitlock said cremations, like burials, offer flexibility.
“Families can still have their wake and repast.”
She said families also can determine if they would like their deceased’s ashes to be stored, interred or scattered at a particular destination.
Whitlock said the process for a cremation is simple.
Families, she said, must provide a copy of the death certificate and other basic information.
“There is also a cremation document that must be filled out and certain authorities will have to sign those. So we try to ensure that families, during their time of grief, could be relieved of the extra stress.”
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Whitlock said Tobagonians are not being mandated to choose cremations over burials.
“It is not that we are putting it on you but for families, it is an option that Belgrove’s Funeral Home is now offering to the people of Tobago.”
At a function in Tobago on August 29, 2024, to commemorate Belgrove’s 136th anniversary, CEO Keith Belgrove recalled that Trinidad got its first private crematorium in 1998, after a 21-year battle.
He said in 2001, the company established another crematorium in Trincity and in 2023, one in Point Fortin.
On that occasion, Belgrove also said, “We have one here (in Tobago), but covid19 impacted it.”
