It's one of the most compelling indicators of the crisis facing Trinidad and Tobago (TT) that a storage facility is needed at Freeport to manage the influx of covid19 fatalities.
The funeral homes managing these committals signalled two weeks ago that their capacity was becoming overwhelmed.
The management of covid19 mortalities has been a challenge right from the start of the pandemic, with a shortlist of local funeral homes designated as destinations for storing the covid19 dead. By May 2021, a combination of payment issues and diminishing capacity had shrunk that list to one, an East Trinidad funeral agency.
Concerns about the management of the deceased added to the challenges that even eligible funeral homes faced, particularly when cremation was mandated for all but a few funeral rites.
As the numbers have increased, so too have the problems that funeral homes have faced.
The state pays between $2,000 and $3,000 for the removal of each covid19 fatality. Government payments to funeral homes for internments and cremations-which run as high as $14,000 per funeral-have also been slow to arrive.
The Freeport residents living near the proposed storage facility raised an alarm about the plan on Thursday, claiming the building in its current state is seems unready to be a warehouse, far less a way-station for corpses.
When the president of the Association of Funeral Home Professionals, Keith Belgrove, countered that the facility is a 'simple' storage unit and not a mortuary, he was splitting the finest of hairs. Any structure adapted to store covid19 dead should meet the standards required of a mortuary or morgue, and it is unforgivable, given the likelihood of a negative reaction, that the residents in the immediate area were not consulted.
On Friday, Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh promised to schedule a meeting with the concerned citizens to answer their questions, in a late-blooming realisation that clearly articulated information should be the first step in major covid19 decisions and announcements.
He is also still to respond to complaints about the limits on outdoor, open-pyre cremation, which continue to annoy representatives of the Hindu faith to the extent they have reached the courts.
It's surprising that it would take a threat of a human barricade to move the Health Ministry to consider a consultation with the people of Beaucarro Road, when a conversation, a guided tour, and an explanation of the adaptation of the building-including, importantly, details about how the deceased will be safely managed-should have been the first step.
In committing to explain the storage facility to the protesting residents, the Minister of Health must also acknowledge the need for more, evidently essential, education explaining covid19 to the wider public as TT adjusts to coping with the virus.
Building trust through open, clear communication will improve understanding and erode the vaccine resistance that is stymieing efforts to manage the pandemic.
The post The Freeport dilem
