Maharagama Municipal Council Secretary Aruna Dias said that Western Province Governor, Marshal of the Air Roshan Goonetileke has instructed them to cremate bodies removed from academic activities of the Sri Jayewardhanapura University’s Medical Faculty.
The secretary said further that he received further instructions, that if additional financial provisions are required for this purpose, it should be borne by the Municipal Council and the common fund.
This measure was taken, subsequent to a discussion held at the Western Province Local Government Ministry auditorium on Thursday, under the patronage of Governor Roshan Goonetileke, in connection with an incident, on June 13, when corpses had been disposed of in an informal manner at the Jeronis Peiris cemetery at Baroda Watte within the municipality area of authority.
The Secretary of the Maharagama Municipal Council handed over to the Governor a complete report including statements obtained from the owner of a private funeral parlour in Maharagama which had been assigned the task of burying bodies disposed of from the Medical Faculty. Governor Goonetileke said that in order to avoid that situation and to prevent the unfortunate situation that happened from taking place again, the bodies given from now on will be cremated as a matter of national requirement.
Apart from that, the Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government also promised to provide the necessary provisions from the Municipal Council Fund, for the cremation of the corpses disposed of in this manner, every six months.
The secretary said that in addition, in the future when dead bodies and body parts that are being disposed of after studies, they should be put into a box and sealed before handing them over for cremation. Maharagama Municipal Council authorities have by now taken steps to properly bury all the corpses and body parts that were disposed of earlier.