Question:
There's no room left at the cemetery, so mayor proposes a ban on death
BIRITIBA MIRIM, Brazil (AP) - There's no more room to bury the dead, they can't be cremated, and laws forbid a new cemetery. So the mayor of this Brazilian farm town has proposed a solution: outlaw death.
Mayor Roberto Pereira da Silva's proposal to the town council asks residents to take good care of your health in order not to die and warns that infractors will be held responsible for their acts.
The bill, which sets no penalty for passing away, is meant to protest a federal law that has barred a new or expanded cemetery in Biritiba Mirim, a town of 28,000 people 70 kilometres east of Sao Paulo.
Of course the bill is laughable, unconstitutional, and will never be approved, said Gilson Soares de Campos, an aide to the mayor. But can you think of a better marketing strategy . . . to persuade the government to modify the environmental legislation that is barring us from building a new cemetery?
A 2003 decree by Brazil's National Environment Council bars new or expanded cemeteries in so-called permanent preservation areas or in areas with high water tables. Environmental protection measures rule out cremation.
That left no option for Biritiba Mirim, a town on the so-called green belt of rich farmland that supplies fruits and vegetables for Sao Paulo, Brazil's biggest city. The town produces 90 per cent of the watercress consumed in Brazil.
Most of Biritiba Mirim sits above the underground water source for about 2 million people in Sao Paulo, de Campos said. The rest is covered by protected forest.
More than 50,000 people already are buried in the 3,500 crypts and tombs in Biritiba Mirim's municipal cemetery, which was inaugurated in 1910.
The cemetery ran out of space last month and 20 residents who have died since November were forced to share a crypt. But even that solution has limits.
The crypts will be filled to capacity in six months. . . . We have even buried people under the walkways, de Campos said.
Look, people are going to die. A solution has to be found, or we'll have to break the law.
At least 20 towns within 95 kilometres of Biritiba Mirim have a similar dilemma, de Campos said, though none has ordered its citizens not to die.
Biritiba Marim isn't the first Brazilian town to draw attention with an unusual law. A few years ago, a mayor in Parana state banned the sale of condoms, arguing that his town needed to increase its population to keep qualifying for federal aid. Drugstores ignored the ban.
De Campos said his town wants the Environment Council to change the wording of the cemetery decree to allow exceptions approved by environmentalists.
Biritiba Mirim has set aside public land five times the size of the current graveyard for a new cemetery that environmental experts from the University of Sao Paulo say, will not affect the region's water tables or surrounding environment, de Campos said.
The Environment Council declined to comment before a meeting to discuss the matter with local officials Thursday.
credits
Answer:
Don't dieeeeeeeeeeeee.
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how lovely x_x *sarcasm*
its like:
A: I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!!
B: YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO DIE!!
or summat like that lol xD
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wth
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Don't dieeeeeeeeeeeee.
how lovely x_x *sarcasm*
its like:
A: I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!!
B: YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO DIE!!
or summat like that lol xD
wth
Probably didn't read article.
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why arent they allowed to be criminated?
buried under sidewalks =___=;; that'd be creepy
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^ I'm sure you mean cremated
Anyways, that's not going to stop people from dying. I'm sure they'll figure out a solution. And yeah, cremation would be a solid solution.
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gross
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^ I'm sure you mean cremated
Anyways, that's not going to stop people from dying. I'm sure they'll figure out a solution. And yeah, cremation would be a solid solution.
They said cremation would would violate evironmental protection. Environmental protection measures rule out cremation.
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^ I read. I just don't know of any other solution they could use. They don't have space to bury, can't cremate... what's left to do?
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^ I read. I just don't know of any other solution they could use. They don't have space to bury, can't cremate... what's left to do?
lol thats why they're prposing this silly law, so that the issue can get some attention and other laws can change.
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they could also try and have them be made into a diamond ring. that way it'll look pretty and saves space.
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^ Haha, I read that article. But they may not want to be a diamond ring.
-- Thao
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Biritiba Marim isn't the first Brazilian town to draw attention with an unusual law. A few years ago, a mayor in Parana state banned the sale of condoms, arguing that his town needed to increase its population to keep qualifying for federal aid. Drugstores ignored the ban.
The environment will be worse if they have more people so condoms should be sold!
Of course the bill is laughable, unconstitutional, and will never be approved, said Gilson Soares de Campos, an aide to the mayor. But can you think of a better marketing strategy . . . to persuade the government to modify the environmental legislation that is barring us from building a new cemetery?
Can't agree more with this guy on this.
I hope they have a better solution soon although I do support the cremation because I think this way it'll be less space and leave more space for people who are alive.
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I did read the article.
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lol
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shouldn't they opt of cremation?
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Haha I like the comparison to a law banning the sale of condoms. It works - that is, it draws attention to the important issues.
