Six years after it was built, the Port Kaituma mortuary is without staff and refrigeration facilities and the bodies stored there sometimes decompose or are disfigured by rodents unless families arrange quick burials.
Upset residents say the situation is unacceptable while Regional Chairman Fermin Singh pointed out that representations are being made to have the cost to purchase freezers included in the next budget.
Singh, who acknowledged that there is no cold storage at the mortuary, said that this is the first time such representations are being made. He explained that the usual practice is that relatives would uplift bodies the day after they are pronounced dead. He noted there is now a situation where bodies have to be preserved for post-mortem examinations—a situation that was not previously catered for.
Singh added that there are no cold storages facilities at Matthew’s Ridge either. He described the mortuary there as “a little house. A small place to put the body until the family comes.”
He said that the region wants a better building at Matthew’s Ridge but there will be no representations for this is the next budget.
When this newspaper contacted Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy on Saturday, he could not offer a comment on the issue and requested until Monday or Tuesday (yesterday). However, this newspaper was unable to reach the Minister yesterday after several attempts.
Stabroek News has been told that some minor works to the building are yet to be completed.
The cost to preserve the bodies is very high since grieving relatives have to buy ice and formalin. If relatives do not buy the initial four buckets of ice at a rate of $1500 per bucket and one pint of formalin, the body starts to smell. Richard Allen, a resident of Port Kaituma, described the situation as very sad. He recalled that about five years ago, the morgue was built by the government in collaboration with an international donor organisation. He said since then there has been no staff occupying the building and no storage facilities for the dead. According to him, it is just an empty building with large cracks on the walls.
Allen said that at the moment there is a wooden box that is used to store the bodies. If more bodies come, they are placed on the floor. He said if a death is suspicious, the body has to remain there until the pathologist travels from Georgetown to conduct the post-mortem examination. The pathologist comes when he can, Allen added. There have been cases where relatives return to find the bodies badly damaged by rats.
Allen recounted his experience, saying it is very expensive since it requires buying ice for several days. He pointed out that if relatives have to travel from another area, they sometimes miss the burial. “What makes this even worse is that it is right across the road from the hospital… This is not fair and it is not right,” Allen lamented. He said that the mortuary has not been officially handed over and after five years it is unclear when it will be.
Other Port Kaituma residents told this newspaper via telephone that the situation is unbearable and that they feel neglected.
According to another resident, Port Kaituma and Matthew’s Ridge have the same problem with cold storage. At Matthew’s Ridge, relatives also have to buy ice to preserve the bodies at a higher cost.
Residents also spoke of the poor state of the roads and inadequate staff at the Port Kaituma hospital. “We are being neglected. Our region always suffer,” Allen, meanwhile, added.
