The family members of more than a dozen recently-deceased persons were furious yesterday after turning up for scheduled post-mortem examinations at the Georgetown Hospital morgue, only to be told that they had been delayed until Monday because the pathologist was unavailable.
In several of the cases, funeral arrangements had already been finalised for this weekend.
Upset family members questioned who would now bear the cost of cancelling the funerals and related arrangements.
When contacted about the situation, the hospital Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Michael Khan said that it had nothing to do with the institution as it was the responsibility of the police.
“It has nothing to do with us,” Khan told Stabroek News, while adding that he was told that one of the two government pathologists is out of the country while the other is sick.
When contacted an official at the police public relations office stated that the issue is the responsibility of the Ministry of Health.
Efforts to contact ministry officials, including Health Minister Dr. Bheri Ramsaran and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, were futile.
This situation highlight the urgent need for additional doctors who are trained in forensic pathology, family members of the deceased stressed yesterday.
Presently, the two pathologists attached to the Guyana Police Force are Dr. Nehaul Singh, who is based in Georgetown and Dr Vivekanand Brijmohan, who is based in Berbice.
Stabroek News was told Dr. Singh travelled abroad following the death of a close relative. As is customary whenever Dr Singh is unavailable, Dr. Brijmohan was supposed to assume his responsibilities.
The Berbice-based doctor, this newspaper was told, did travel to Georgetown and conducted post-mortems on Monday. Those that were left back were to be done on Wednesday but he never turned up. Post-Mortem examinations in Georgetown are conducted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Among those who have been affected by this situation are the relatives of the three miners, Devon Barry, Deonarine Singh and Elson Singh, who were buried alive in a mining pit at Aranka on Thursday. They were scheduled to be buried on Sunday.
Deonarine Singh’s cousin, Zaheer Mohamed, told Stabroek News that the post-mortem was scheduled for yesterday and as a result the man’s family made arrangements for the funeral to be held on Sunday. He said that when he and other family members turned up at the morgue, they were told that they have to return on Monday. According to Mohammed no proper explanation was given. The man later said that mortuary staff was rude and uncooperative with them when they tried to ascertain what was happening. He said that at one point, demands for money was made by one of the staff to see “what he could do fuh we.”
An upset Mohammed said that in light of the development, the family will now have to cancel the funeral since they cannot take the body away as police are investigating the deaths. “All that is money that has gone down the drain,” another relative said of the situation.
Relatives of the two other men that were also present also expressed dissatisfaction at the situation. Elson’s common-law wife, Rhonda, stated that the plan was to bury all three men together, since they all belong to Ann’s Grove Village, East Coast Demerara.
Amanda Cordis, whose brother Rawle is suspected to have died due to natural circumstances, also said that the delay was holding up her family’s funeral plans. She said that though Rawle was hospitalised, relatives wanted to have a post-mortem done to ascertain how he died.
“My brother was handicapped and we just want to put him to rest,” the woman said. “The people in here is just telling us come back Monday. That is all they are telling us. There is a backlog and we know when he (the pathologist) come Monday, he can’t deal with all the dead, so some of us will still be in problems Monday.”
Meanwhile, Bibi Harrichand, who lost her baby at home, said that because the matter is in the hands of the police they were told that a post-mortem had to be done. The woman stated that her baby died on Tuesday and she was informed that the post-mortem would have taken place yesterday. The woman said that she is very distraught over the situation because her husband had to take time off from work. She said that he would be unable to do so on Monday.
Onika Subhan, whose five month old baby Rayon Chester died at their Sophia home on Sunday, said that she too was given the “royal push around” since Wednesday. On that day, she said she was told that the post-mortem would be cancelled to yesterday.
Another woman, Doreen Fanfair, whose husband Clive Inniss also died on Sunday, said that this situation had placed her in additional expenses, since the funeral which was suppose to have to held in Essequibo has already been paid for. She said that the funeral was scheduled for today.
Lennox Henry, whose brother Jack Jackson died at the Georgetown Hospital on October 1, said that the funeral was arranged for next Monday since overseas-based relatives were expected to travel back to their respective home later in the week.
He said that when he turned up on Wednesday, no proper explanation was given for the delay. “They said that they couldn’t because the doctor was in Berbice,” he recalled before questioning who was going to compensate grieving relatives for the additional expenses.
