Paphos crematorium faces new delays, completion expected next year

[Paphos Life]

The construction of a new crematorium in Paphos may not be complete until next year, according to reports on Monday. News website Reporter wrote that while the initial plan was for the crematorium, which would be Cyprus’ first, to be complete and operational by midway through this year, the project has suffered delays before construction […]
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Read the article and chat about it below...

[trevnhil]

I think many people will be interested in the construction of the crematorium. When my wife died i knew that she had expressed a wish to be cremated. I had to arrange for a funeral firm here (Angel Guardians) to collect my wife and deal with all aspects of her funeral in Cyprus. This included transporting her to the UK. I had to engage another funeral firm there to collect her from Manchester Airport and transfer her to North Lancashire. A cremation was organised there..
It would have been so much easier if she could have been cremated here in the Paphos area..

[WHL]

This would be a welcome addition to Cyprus, sadly I don't think there will be enough numbers to make this a viable business.

[Tuppence]

by WHL » Thu Jan 30, 2025 8:21 am

This would be a welcome addition to Cyprus, sadly I don't think there will be enough numbers to make this a viable business.

The people behind it have been running a funeral home in Paphos since 2010 so hopefully have done their sums right.

[WHL]

by WHL » Thu Jan 30, 2025 8:21 am

This would be a welcome addition to Cyprus, sadly I don't think there will be enough numbers to make this a viable business.

The people behind it have been running a funeral home in Paphos since 2010 so hopefully have done their sums right.

As I said, this service Is very much needed over here, but in my opinion to be a viable commercial success you will need. X amount of cremations a day , are there those numbers over here?. I do hope it opens and is a success.

[Firefly]

It appears that 22% of the population of Cyprus, are expats. The percentage of those wishing to be cremated, upon their deaths is perhaps an unknown, but I'm sure that research has been done.

Add to that any deaths amongst tourists, that wish to be repatriated, where the return of ashes to the UK, is much cheaper that having to repatriate a loved one to the UK for cremation, as Trevnhil has sadly had to do, he has shown that the cost is huge, compared to a simple cremation, had that been possible in Cyprus.

Had we still lived in Cyprus when my husband passed away, I would have been in the same boat as Trevor, as MOH wished to be cremated upon his death.

[WHL]

It appears that 22% of the population of Cyprus, are expats. The percentage of those wishing to be cremated, upon their deaths is perhaps an unknown, but I'm sure that research has been done.

Add to that any deaths amongst tourists, that wish to be repatriated, where the return of ashes to the UK, is much cheaper that having to repatriate a loved one to the UK for cremation, as Trevnhil has sadly had to do, he has shown that the cost is huge, compared to a simple cremation, had that been possible in Cyprus.

Had we still lived in Cyprus when my husband passed away, I would have been in the same boat as Trevor, as MOH wished to be cremated upon his death.

Can you please gives us a link for your claim that 22% of the Cyprus population is made up of expats,

The last census showed around 30,000 brits live in Cyprus which includes British cypriots., that works out at @ 2% not 22%.

https://cyprusinuk.com/cyprus-uk-relati ... e%20island.

[Firefly]

No, Google it yourself as I did.

I did not state that all the expats are British, your assumption.

[WHL]

No, Google it yourself as I did.

I did not state that all the expats are British, your assumption.

You googled what exactly it sure wasn't any thing to do with facts .
So the vast amount of foreigners over here are Russians, Ukrainians, all orthodox which are opposed to cremation, Syrians perhaps ? Nah they are muslims, again opposed to cremation. Israelis ? no they oppose it also roll:

[Dominic]

No, Google it yourself as I did.

I did not state that all the expats are British, your assumption.

You googled what exactly it sure wasn't any thing to do with facts .
So the vast amount of foreigners over here are Russians, Ukrainians, all orthodox which are opposed to cremation, Syrians perhaps ? Nah they are muslims, again opposed to cremation. Israelis ? no they oppose it also roll:

There really is no need to be such a jackass. A simple google of "How many foreigners live in Cyprus" will reveal the following:

Cypriots and foreign residents

The population of non-Cypriot nationals has significantly increased. Foreigners who have their habitual residence in Cyprus, i.e. those who reside in Cyprus for at least one year, represent the 20.3% of the recorded population, reaching 170.383 from 64.811 (9.4% of total the population) that was in 2001.

Foreign nationals by country (major countries)

Regarding the population recorded by country of citizenship, the majority of the foreign nationals come from Greece (29.321), the UK (24 046), Romania (23.706), Bulgaria (18.536), the Philippines (9.413), Russia (8.164), Sri Lanka (7.269), Vietnam (7.028), Syria (3.054) and many other countries.

https://www.cyprusconferences.org/iwbdg ... population)%20that%20was%20in%202001.

Now, Romanis has a similar stigma about cremation as Cyprus, as cremation isn't very common in Bulgaria either. However, it is definitely a thing in the Philippines.

Some maths:

Population of England: 56 million
Crematoriums in England: 315

Therefore, there are about 175,000 people per crematorium. The cremation rate is roughly 80%, so each crematorium will have a "feed" of around 140,000 people.

So on the face of it, there isn't much chance of it working.

HOWEVER, you are not comparing like with like. What if it costs more to cremate somebody here than it does in the UK? Provided the cremation fee is less than the repatriation fee etc, it may well be viable. I just don't know. I imagine the people who run the funeral company have done their homework though.

[WHL]

Your right, apologies,
I hope they do succeed because cremation is my choice when the day comes. , the only point i was trying to make was most of the foreigners over here according to their religion oppose cremation.

[Dominic]

It's Firefly you should be apologising too!

[WHL]

It's Firefly you should be apologising too!

Firefly wrote 22% of the cyprus population were expats, as we are discussing Brit expats wanting cremation,
I asked her for a link, my apology was to the forum as i shouldn't of responded in kind to her reply

[Firefly]

Dominic

Thank you, unfortunately, your suggestion fell on stony ground.

[Steve - SJD]

Certainly wanted and needed in Cyprus and whilst unlikely it would have been better with Govt. financial support.

They must have factored in the financial side though with a view that this will take a few years to provide a return.

€2.2 million build cost excluding running costs

There's approx say 6k deaths per year on Cyprus

Guestimate at 15% wanting cremation

€900 per cremation

Wouldn't take that many years even on those figures for the build cost and initial fees to be covered but still a significant commitement.

Cheers

Steve

[Dominic]

Average price of a cremation in the UK was over 3K.

[PhotoLady]

Interesting.... and I honestly thought things would have moved on a bit more with regards to cremations in Cyprus since we left, going up now for almost 9 years.

My parents took out a funeral plan with the Co-Op a few years before my dad passed away in the latter part of 2016.
The cost for one car, the collection of the body, the service at the church (don't ask me why, as none of us have any religious leanings), the cremation and ashes being returned in an urn.
The cost: £7,500
Flowers are extras.

But things have moved on when it comes to cremations in UK now.
People don't want to face the death of a loved one and have to wait at least 2+ weeks for the standard service (as outlined above) to have the whole loss, pushed right back into their face as they were slowly coming to terms with the fact their partner or child, was no longer with them...

The route we will go down is the simple or 'direct cremation' route.
No need for cars, or pomp and circumstance.
The funeral directors collect the body, the cremation takes place (you can be there or you can choose not to be) and the ashes are returned, if you want that.

Then, most people plan a gathering of friends and family at a time into the future, when they know they will be feeling in a stronger position to deal with their grief and share tales and memories - but without the unnecessary or unwanted funeral service, with readings from a total stranger to the family.

https://www.purecremation.co.uk/direct-cremation

It's worth scrolling down the page and reading the section under the Sub Heading of: Five Myths About Direct Cremation via the link above.

The cost ranges from around £1k to £1.5k.

As we will have no immediately family who is likely to be living in the UK, as long as we pop off without anything happening unduly - it's definitely the choice we will be making.

I've always said, I would by quite happy to be put out in the recyclable Green Bin, but by the time it happens - my bin may not be that colour, depending where we will be living by then.

[trevnhil]

Photo lady.. I am amazed at the cost you mention of 7,500. I paid for my wife's cremation at Lancaster in the UK almost two years ago. The price including the collection of the body from Manchester Airport was 3,893 pounds. We used the Hearse and one funeral car..

[Firefly]

Sorry, duplicated.

[Firefly]

MOH's cremation in 2019, in Hereford, cost £3.500 including two news paper announcements, hearse, coffin, ashes casket, service celebrant, service, service booklet with photos, etc.

I too am amazed at a cost of £7.500 in 2016.

My son, daughter and I, wished to celebrate and honour my husband's life, and give others who knew him, e.g. work place colleagues, old friends, a chance to join with us. Many did.