390 unclaimed dead to be cremated
A protracted crisis at the overcrowded police mortuary in Windhoek seems to have been resolved.
Close to 400 unclaimed bodies from the state and police mortuaries will be cremated by the City of Windhoek at a cost of about N$165 000 in the coming months.
The announcement marked the end of a drawn-out crisis that was described as “catastrophic” by a police official last year, when more than triple the number of bodies were stored in a cold-storage room designed to hold 24 bodies.
Currently more than 120 unclaimed bodies are stored at the police mortuary.
Dr Andreas Mwoombola, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Health, on Friday confirmed that the ministry had issued a purchase order for N$164 700 to cremate 390 bodies.
It was confirmed over the weekend that the rest of the unclaimed bodies are from the Windhoek state mortuary.
In a statement to Namibian Sun Mwoombola said the ministry had “offered to assist the Namibian Police with disposing of unclaimed bodies from the mortuary”.
This follows an agreement from last year, when the health ministry confirmed it would cremate 76 of the unclaimed bodies at the police mortuary, which has not yet happened.
Over the past year, the mortuary has reached out frequently to the public to encourage families to claim bodies, after the situation reached crisis proportions and autopsies were delayed on several occasions due to the body count at the mortuary.
Staff complained about the health risks and the smell.
The issue of unclaimed bodies came to a head last year, when police officials admitted that there was no budget to dispose of unclaimed bodies.
At the time, they said they relied solely on assistance form the health ministry if members of the public did not claim the bodies of their relatives.
In July brief talks were held with the attorney-general and the Ministry of Finance and a request for N$5 million was reportedly submitted to cover the costs of disposing of the bodies.
In March, Dr Paul Ludik of the National Forensic Science Institute told Namibian Sun that the issue had been resolved and that the ministry of health was responsible for the remains if unclaimed for an indefinite period of time.
The ministry denied that for the second time.
On Friday, Mwoombola said the agreement to fund the cremation of the 390 bodies, including those from the police mortuary, was not permanent and that the way forward was yet to be determined.
Mwoombola added that he could not comment on a meeting between the ministry of health and Ludik and other police officials because “there has been no meeting between the ministry, Dr Ludik and any other party on the matter”.
JANA-MARI SMITH
The announcement marked the end of a drawn-out crisis that was described as “catastrophic” by a police official last year, when more than triple the number of bodies were stored in a cold-storage room designed to hold 24 bodies.
Currently more than 120 unclaimed bodies are stored at the police mortuary.
Dr Andreas Mwoombola, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Health, on Friday confirmed that the ministry had issued a purchase order for N$164 700 to cremate 390 bodies.
It was confirmed over the weekend that the rest of the unclaimed bodies are from the Windhoek state mortuary.
In a statement to Namibian Sun Mwoombola said the ministry had “offered to assist the Namibian Police with disposing of unclaimed bodies from the mortuary”.
This follows an agreement from last year, when the health ministry confirmed it would cremate 76 of the unclaimed bodies at the police mortuary, which has not yet happened.
Over the past year, the mortuary has reached out frequently to the public to encourage families to claim bodies, after the situation reached crisis proportions and autopsies were delayed on several occasions due to the body count at the mortuary.
Staff complained about the health risks and the smell.
The issue of unclaimed bodies came to a head last year, when police officials admitted that there was no budget to dispose of unclaimed bodies.
At the time, they said they relied solely on assistance form the health ministry if members of the public did not claim the bodies of their relatives.
In July brief talks were held with the attorney-general and the Ministry of Finance and a request for N$5 million was reportedly submitted to cover the costs of disposing of the bodies.
In March, Dr Paul Ludik of the National Forensic Science Institute told Namibian Sun that the issue had been resolved and that the ministry of health was responsible for the remains if unclaimed for an indefinite period of time.
The ministry denied that for the second time.
On Friday, Mwoombola said the agreement to fund the cremation of the 390 bodies, including those from the police mortuary, was not permanent and that the way forward was yet to be determined.
Mwoombola added that he could not comment on a meeting between the ministry of health and Ludik and other police officials because “there has been no meeting between the ministry, Dr Ludik and any other party on the matter”.
JANA-MARI SMITH
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