Parliament has approved changes to the Public Health Amendment Bill of 2023 that allow Funeral Homes to Bury unclaimed bodies after a specified duration.
Health Minister Sir Molwyn Joseph championed the bill on Monday
“This bill seeks to place an obligation on the government that when there is an unclaimed body over a period of time, having made public that the person is deceased and there is no one who steps forward then we will arrange for the burial of that individual to be buried,”
Furthermore, the Minister expressed his sorrow over when families failed to claim their dear ones.
The Minister expressed his sadness about families who failed to claim their loved ones. The facility also offers options for covering funeral expenses through the deceased’s estate or Social Security benefits.
If there are no assets to cover the costs, the government will take care of reasonable expenses.
Attorney General Steadroy Benjamin emphasized the urgency of addressing this significant issue and called for immediate action from the authorities.
“An unclaimed human corpse shall not be kept in a funeral home or any other place authorized to keep dead bodies over 14 days,” the minister said.
Makes sense. But be sure to take and record their DNA before burial or cremation, so that exhumation ( if buried) would not be necessary, and family can be confirmed whenever they show up.