Dear Editor,
I take this opportunity to draw attention to the rather unprofessional and disrespectful manner in which the Linden Senior Citizen Association and Funeral Home has been treated by the Guyana Police Force ‘D’ Division, Linden/Region 10 with respect to the funeral service it operates, as told to me by the administrative supervisor, the secretary manager and assistant secretary manager.
The LSCA for over 20 years has been providing a much needed and invaluable service to the entire Region 10 by way of its funeral parlour business. Being a very prominent funeral parlour in the region, it has also over the years assiduously served the Guyana Police ‘D’ Division without fail, transporting bodies from far-flung remote areas in the interior whenever summoned by the police – day or night. That they have been working along with the ‘D’ Division for all those years is testimony to their reliability, trust and the good relations they have had. Every Commander who was here before to the one who left less than two months ago can attest to this. They recall that many of them made it their duty to visit the Association to familiarize themselves with its workings by having discussions with the JP and the administration.
However this is no more the state of affairs; things have changed. But why and for what reason? According to the LSCA officers, as usual they were called upon to pick up the bodies of two persons who were killed in an accident at Moblissa on the Linden Highway and take them to the mortuary, which they did. But when the bill was submitted, it was rejected because it was claimed that the cost ($15,000) was too much, and it would not be endorsed. According to the executives there are three more such outstanding invoices that they are still awaiting payment on.
Now what the officers of LSCA are saying is that the price charged is standard and has been stable for some time: $10,000 to remove a deceased person from anywhere within the town and $15,000 beyond in the Region. This is what ordinary folks have to pay and they have not charged the police one penny more. In fact they have been most reasonable with them in transporting the two bodies for one price. (Please note that Moblissa is a location in Region 4). Thus they consider the present approach to be rather unreasonable. They tell of problems encountered in dealing with the dead, and often times they are confronted with the unexpected. They tell of the porter having to be assisted by hired hands who have to be paid “good money”; it is worse yet at night when going to remote areas, not to mention the lengthy periods waiting before they are paid and which they have been putting up with without complaining.
But what has disturbed them very much is the mode of operation in that they have only come to know about police disapproval of the cost when a call was made to find out about the payment. A question mark still hangs over the payment for this last service rendered, since as mentioned above it is being challenged, including the three other previous invoices that were submitted.
Even more perturbing, it appears that the funeral parlour’s services would no longer be required since from reliable information received, police stations within the Region have been instructed to cease dealing with the LSCA Funeral Home and arrangements have already been made to have another funeral parlour replace them. Again, according to the LSCA executives they weren’t even granted the basic courtesy of being informed about the termination of their service, much less thanked for the years of service they have provided; everything was done in a most unceremonious manner.
How can we expect such behaviour to improve the image of the police force and cooperation of the police and citizens?
Yours faithfully,
Frank Fyffe
