Body of Kaituma man at Essequibo funeral home still unclaimed

THE body of a 20-year-old Amerindian man, Steve John, of Port Kaituma has been lying at the Essequibo Funeral Home at Suddie for more than two weeks and no one has come forward to uplift the body for burial.According to Councillor of the Regional Democratic Council [RDC], Ms. Shanta Springer, the Essequibo Funeral Home is under the management of the Region 2 RDC and when corpses are left there for long periods without relatives coming forward to pay and uplift the bodies for burial, the burden is left on the regional administration to bear the cost of storage and burial.
The councillor who has responsibility for health and sanitation at the RDC level for the region, said the deceased man of Port Kaituma, North West District, was referred to the Kumaka Hospital at Moruca and then to the Oscar Joseph District Hospital at Charity on November 4, 2014. He was subsequently transferred to the Suddie Hospital where he died on November 6.
According to the councillor, documentation has revealed that the next-of-kin to the deceased man is an uncle known by the name Rodrigues who never returned to the hospital to check on the patient. She said there was no phone number left in case of emergency.
The councillor is calling on relatives of the deceased Steve John of Port Kaituma or Moruca to come forward and uplift the body for burial.
Only recently the body of another Amerindian man from Moruca was left at the funeral home for more than six weeks and no one had come forward to identify the body until the Guyana Chronicle carried a story on the matter; only then did relatives and the wife of the man of Moruca come forward and identify the body by a scar on the neck.
Reports said the wife however refused to bury the body because according to her, he had a lot of “sweet women, let them come and bury he now.” The body was however buried at the Suddie cemetery near the funeral home in the presence of relatives.
The RDC councillor said the police Divisional Commander has been informed about the body that is currently lying at the parlour.

(Rajendra Prabhulall in Essequibo)

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