Jay Manicand and his wife are furious. Last year the grave of their son was completely destroyed by a miscommunication with the municipality of Eindhoven. The municipality admitted that things had gone wrong and that she would repair the damage, but that has not happened to date. A conversation that the parents had with the municipality about this on Wednesday morning was high. Jay and his wife have decided to take legal action. “It was a fiasco,” says their lawyer.
The cemetery is an important place for the family. Their son, who died at birth, is buried there. And the Manicand family has put a lot of effort into making a memorial place. There was artificial grass, there was a fence and there were flowers and hugs. But in the summer of last year everything suddenly lay in a big hope and the tombstone was damaged.
According to the municipality, the grave took too much space and therefore agreements would have been made that a number of posts with which the grave was fenced could be removed. But due to a miscommunication on the side of the municipality, almost the entire grave was emptied. The family eventually received apologies from the municipality and the mayor also expressed his regret in a personal conversation about the damage to the grave.
“The official twisted the whole story.”
The municipality would restore the grave and it would pay for the costs. But now, almost a year later, that has still not happened. Jay and his wife therefore had a conversation at the town hall on Wednesday morning. Their lawyer was also there. They thought they would be told that the costs for a new tombstone would be reimbursed, but that conversation was just a little different.
Jay showed last year what the destruction looked like:
The municipality has announced that the new tombstone that the family has chosen is too large and that they are not allowed to place it. Jay is furious. Especially since, according to him, the municipality had given permission for the dimensions at the original grave, which are somewhat larger than officially permitted. Now that is no longer allowed. “Shameless”, Jay shouts on Wednesday after the conversation. “The official twisted the whole story. I then called that I am going to throw in the windows of the town hall, because they have demolished something dear to me. They found that threat, but I find the whole situation inhumane.”
The family will now start legal proceedings against the municipality. “We did not get out of the conversation,” confirms their lawyer Peter van de Laar. “The client thought that the municipality would come up with a solution, but the municipality was very formal. Employees said they did not allow the dimensions of the tombstone because of the General Local Regulation (APV). My client was indeed very angry, because the situation was always different. The conversation was a fiasco.”
“We would like to come to a solution.”
The municipality says that there have indeed been several conversations with the family, with the aim of making agreements. “Unfortunately, which has not been successful so far,” the municipality says. “We very much regret this, because we would like to find a solution.” Due to the privacy of the family, the municipality can no longer and want to say about it.
The family’s lawyer thinks they have a good business against the municipality. “Two years ago, Jay received permission from the cemetery manager and a civil servant. So there are formal rules about the dimensions, but there is a commitment. In addition, there are other cemeteries in the municipality where graves are also greater than the official rules, so we can rely on the principle of equality.”
