MR. LLOYD A. S. Henry in a letter to this newspaper published on Thursday has cited two instances of unconscionable delays by the authorities in removing dead bodies from public view to funeral homes or morgues. In one case the corpse was covered with a sheet of zinc for over five hours in the blazing sun. In another unfortunate occurrence, as stated by Mr. Henry, a visitor to the Adult Correctional Centre collapsed and died and it took over five hours for the body to be removed.
In most societies, the spectacle of public death is abhorrent and, out of respect for common humanity, bodies of the dead are treated with special care. This sometimes includes enshroudment in a body bag and speedy removal from the gaze of curious onlookers. Some Jamaicans, however, seem to have developed a morbid curiosity about death, as witness the scores of gawpers, including children, who crowd around accident victims, sometimes visiting funeral parlours to view the remains of a notorious killer. This cultural aberration should not be encouraged.
Perhaps delays in removing the dead from public areas is because there are no clear guidelines as to which government agency is responsible for taking immediate action. Usually the police are summoned but they can't make a pronouncement of death. This awaits the arrival of a pathologist for an autopsy to be done before the body can be removed by one of the contracted private undertakers, there being no public morgue as such. In the current situation where the entire country is being served by no more than five pathologists, the spectre of delays in removal of bodies becomes all to commonplace. We note that the present number of pathologists is a significant improvement over a few years ago when the entire country was being served by one person. Clearly, however, we are still not managing these scenes of death adequately.
The combination of increasing shoot-outs between criminals and the police and escalating traffic accident fatalities makes it urgent for any such ambiguities to be clarified. It would seem that primary responsibility should rest with the police but even within this organisation there may be confusion as to which branch or division is responsible for quick response.
In the name of decency and civilised respect for the dead, the Government should take the lead in setting specific appropriate guidelines and providing the resources necessary to implement them. We commend Mr. Henry for again drawing this important matter to public attention. Too often we allow situations which we acknowledge to be untenable to become a part of everyday life, leading to callousness and inertia.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
