Unclaimed bodies still at morgue

JANA-MARI SMITH



The number of bodies at the Windhoek police morgue remains the same, four months after a public appeal was made to help identify and bury unclaimed bodies.

This week the unit commander, Deputy Commissioner Jooste Mbandeka, confirmed that the cremation of 76 unclaimed bodies, with the help of the health ministry, is likely to start shortly.

He said although the public appeals earlier this year resulted in some bodies being claimed, new unclaimed bodies have been added.

Staff at the morgue this week expressed mounting frustration about the fact that not much has changed in the past few months.

A staff member said the solution would be to implement clear procedures for unclaimed bodies and provide a budget for cremations or burials.

“When a body has been here a certain time, then we could go to the budget for unclaimed bodies instead of running around every time, and saying we have unclaimed bodies and no one comes to help.

“We don’t know even who to blame and who to ask for help. We don’t know who is supposed to be in charge of unclaimed bodies. So no one can really be blamed for this.”

In July, it was reported that the police morgue was overwhelmed with 180 bodies in a cold-storage unit designed to hold a maximum of 30 bodies.

Some bodies were stored in the health ministry’s storage unit nearby.

The high body count caused delays in the performing of post-mortems.

There was concern about the health risks posed by slowly decomposing bodies in an overloaded refrigerator.

This week, the morgue confirmed that it was holding 173 bodies, 78 of which were unclaimed. In July, the total number of bodies stood at 184 at one point.

“Until these unclaimed bodies are removed, the situation will continue to become worse,” a morgue staff member told Namibian Sun. He added that the overpowering odour of the unit was unbearable, and made worse by hot summer weather.

He said some staff had complained of falling ill because of the conditions at the morgue. He said the conditions made some fear they “might be in danger” while working at the morgue.

One of the main factors contributing to the problem is the fact that the police do not have a budget for burying or cremating unclaimed bodies.

In July, the police confirmed that discussions were under way with the attorney-general and the Ministry of Finance, in order to request that N$5 million be made available to the police to cover cremation expenses.

At the time, Inspector-General Sebastian Ndeitunga said the police would also look into the relevant legislation to find a solution to the problem.

Ndeitunga said he could not yet give further comment on the matter. Attempts to contact the head of the National Forensic Science Institute, Dr Paul Ludik, to enquire about the budget were unsuccessful.

Mbandeka, head of the Namibian Police’s forensic pathology unit, said 76 unclaimed bodies would be cremated soon.

“The process of cremation did not yet start, but everything is almost in place now. We are likely to start very soon,” he said.

Mbandeka could not say whether progress had been made with talks about a regular budget for cremations.

He added, however, that there will always be unclaimed bodies and in the past, when regular cremations or burials of these bodies were conducted, the average number was 20 a year.