A/Ibom to Conduct Mass Burial for 200 Abandoned Corpses

Government of Akwa Ibom says it would soon conduct mass burial for no fewer than 200 abandoned corpses in the state public mortuaries.Commissioner for Health in the state, Dr Dominic Ukpong who made this known yesterday in Uyo while defending the 2017 budget of his ministry, explained that the exercise is intended to complement what his ministry carried out at the Immanuel General Hospital in Eket last year.Accompanied by the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Bassey Attih, and other directors in the ministry Ukpong stated that virtually every public Hospital where mortuary services are provided in the state are now overloaded with abandoned corpse.He blamed the high number of such corpses on poor burial planning which he said, took their relations between two to three years without any burial plan.His wordsAs you may be aware, we have a tradition that when a chief or the head of a family died, demands would be made to the deceased family to the extent of pledging their lands or properties for sale to meet burial cost which could last for between two to three years thereby over stretching our mortuaries.The Health Commissioner who noted that so many abandoned corpses littered around the state mortuaries premises under harsh weather condition said, mass burial remain the only avenue of decongesting public mortuaries in the state.Ukpong used the forum and requested for financial provision on the part of the state government in aid of emergency response services in the state.The commissioner explained that financial provision in this regard was necessary to enable health officials to response promptly to emergency situations in any part of the state. He explained that where there is a stampeed at the stadium, or possible collapse of person at any point in time or a repeat of the recent Reigner Bible Church collapses tragedy it would be possible for health officials from the ministry to control with ease such a situation.The chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Dr Usoro Akpanusoh emphasized the need for the commissioner to only give priority attention to areas of need for the available funds to be allocated for instead of overcrowding the budget with trivial matters.Akpanusoh commended the commissioner for the medical services the officials of his ministry rendered during the collapsed rooftop of the Reigner church building in Uyo recently, pledging the willingness of his committee to cooperate with the ministry in the realization of the task ahead.
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