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In This Issue...Links to the News:
November 13, 2006
Effia-Nkwanta's headache over
decomposing unidentified corpses
Sekondi, Nov. 15, GNA - Authorities of the Effia-Nkwanta
Government Hospital at Sekondi have for the past month been
battling with the problem of how to dispose of five corpses
deposited at the Hospital's mortuary by some policemen on
different occasions since June this year.
As a result, the Hospital has decided that henceforth, it
would not accept unidentified dead bodies brought to the
morgue by the police.
"If such bodies will be accepted at all, the Police Service
will have to pay for the full cost of preservation to avert
hazards", a letter dated November 6, 2006 and addressed to
the Police and the Prisons services stated.
Mr Asare Bediako Micah, Head of Administration of the
Hospital signed the letter, which also appealed to the
Police to help to identify the officers who deposited the
five bodies at the Hospital.
He told the Ghana News Agency during investigations that the
corpses were deposited at the hospital to enable the police
to conduct investigations into the causes of death.
The police have not responded to letters written to them to
help to streamline procedures to dispose of the decomposing
bodies.
"It is unfortunate that every effort to contact the
policemen for necessary action has proved futile", one of
the letters also signed by Mr Micah stated.
He complained that the bodies were in an advanced state of
decomposition, thereby creating health hazards to both staff
and patients at the Hospital.
"The situation at the Hospital as at now is unbearable and
needs immediate attention", he said.
Even though the Environmental Health and Management
Department of the Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Assembly (SAEMA)
was ready to accept the Hospital's request to collect the
five decomposing unidentified bodies for a mass burial, it
said this could only be done on the orders of a court.
Mr George Frimpong, Metropolitan Environmental Officer,
however, said his outfit was yet to receive such a request
from the Hospital.
The Western Regional Police Crime Officer, when contacted
told the GNA that the Hospital authorities failed to provide
adequate information that would help to address the problem.
The officer, who declined to give his name, said the
Hospital, could not provide the date or identity of the
police officers that they claimed deposited the corpses at
the morgue.
"Please go and ask them what shows that the bodies were sent
to the hospital by the police", he remarked angrily.
At the Hospital's mortuary, the GNA discovered that adequate
or proper records on dead bodies were not kept.
It was also learnt that preservative drugs and chemicals
were not administered on corpses sent to the mortuary
immediately as this could interfere with police
investigation to ascertain the cause of death.
GNA
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