Despite their cleanup campaign, Rose Ada-Hocog of the Koblerville Neighborhood Watch Task Force said people are still throwing their garbage at the cemetery.
“I think the church should also take a stricter approach to eliminate the defacing and destruction of these sacred grounds, most especially because the cemetery is church property,” she said.
Creating temporary transfer stations in the villages and a strict enforcement of the anti-littering law are solutions, she said.
But these, she added, may not eliminate the defacing of and disrespecting of sacred grounds.
She admitted that coming up with a concrete solution to stop the dumping of trash at the cemetery is not easy.
This problem, she said, should not always be tossed to the government, adding that community members should also be involved in maintaining cleanliness in their villages.
“I’ve seen people traveling on the road behind the cemetery tossing their trash like the cemetery is their personal basketball court and the grave sites their basket or net, or spit out of the windows of their cars at the grave markers,” she said.
She said some individuals are also using the cemetery as their parking space.
In their recent cleanup, she said 15 volunteers, including Matua Riders, participated.
Among the volunteers were Lily Manalili, Dolores Nique, Joe Kaipat, Ed Tenorio and Joseph Torres.
“We were able to make some progress at the northern side of the cemetery and we also painted the altar,” she said.
The volunteers have been cleaning the island’s public cemeteries in preparation for All Saints Day on Nov. 1.
