Updated:10:42, Thursday March 06, 2008
The mayor of a village in south west France has banned residents from dying.
And Gerard Lalanne has threatened "severe" punishment for anyone who disobeys.
The mayor issued the unusual edict when it became clear that there was no room left in the overcrowded village graveyard in Sarpourenx in the Bordeaux region.
In an ordinance posted in the council offices, Mayor Lalanne told the 260 residents that "all persons not having a plot in the cemetery and wishing to be buried in Sarpourenx are forbidden from dying in the parish".
It added: "Offenders will be severely punished."
However, the nature of the punishment - apparently a fate worse than death - was not specified.
The mayor said he was forced to take drastic action after an administrative court in the nearby town of Pau ruled in January that the acquisition of adjoining private land to extend the cemetery would not be justified.
Mayor Lalanne, who celebrated his 70th birthday on Wednesday and is standing for election for a seventh term in this month's local elections, said he was sorry that there had not been a positive outcome to the dilemma.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91059-1308194,00.html?f=rss
- posted on 03/07/2008
看来这还是个老问题呢,BBC的旧闻。鹿西给八卦八卦:)
Thursday, 21 September, 2000, 18:41 GMT 19:41 UK
French mayor bans death
The mayor of a village on the French Riviera whose cemetery has run out of space has issued a decree telling people not to die.
"It is forbidden for any person not in possession of a family vault to die on the village's territory," the order stated.
The mayor of Le Lavandou, 40km (25 miles) east of Toulon, said he took the decision because a court in Nice has blocked plans to build a new cemetery.
The local Green Party had complained that the site for the proposed cemetery broke a law on sea shore constructions.
The party has proposed the new cemetery be located in a rock quarry in a less populated area.
Temporary graves
Mayor Gil Bernardi said he issued the death ban to highlight the lack of burial space in the village.
"It is an absurd law enacted because of an absurd situation," said Mr Bernardi.
Under French law people have a right to be buried where they wish, but Mr Bernardi said the village simply could not fulfil that.
"Article 2013 of the local authorities code obliges the mayor to provide for the rapid burial of bodies. I have a duty, and I cannot respect it. It is absolutely impossible," he said.
Ninteen bodies waiting
"The Greens want us to put the new cemetery in a remote quarry," said the mayor. "We can't get rid of our dead in a dump."
At the moment 19 bodies are still waiting for a permanent burial space. They are temporarily buried in friends' vaults, waiting for a permanent plot.
The space crisis has been brewing for three years, the mayor said. The appeal procedure to overturn the Nice court ruling could last up to three years.
About 80 people die each year in Le Lavandou, and only about half of them own a family vault. Nearly a third of the village's 5,508 residents are aged over 65.
"I issued the decree yesterday hoping for official attention," Mr Bernardi said on Thursday. "No one has died since then and I hope it stays that way."
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