URN.Residents of Kassanda Town Council have appealed to authorities to intervene and save them from a heavy stench from Kassanda Health Center IV that is resulting from lack of a mortuary and personnel handling dead bodies.
Kassanda Town Council residents have cried out to the authorities over the heavy stench from the bodies at Kassanda Health Center IV. They say the health facility lacks a mortuary and an attendant to manage the bodies.
Residents claim that the bodies of people who die at the Health center and those brought from other areas are kept in a small room near the washrooms for women. Justine Nakibuule, one of the residents in Kassanda Town Council neighbouring the facility lamented that sometimes the bodies decompose and pollute the air in the area.
Nakibuule, a mobile money attendant, says that they are living in fear of contracting diseases resulting from the stench of decomposing bodies.
Paul Joloba, a councillor in Kassanda Town Council, says that the health center receives dead bodies from various places, some of which are brought in bad shape. He said that when the bodies take long without being picked, they decompose thereby creating a stench to spread throughout the health center and the neighbouring residences.
Frank Buyondo, a Clinical officer at the Kassanda Health Center IV admitted that the facility has no mortuary and that the situation calls for urgent attention from the concerned authorities. He said that the health center has no mortuary attendant and that without personnel, handling of bodies becomes a challenge.
Residents have protested the decision of Kassanda Town Council to set up a cemetery at Jjemba Village, which is a residential area. They want the Town Council authorities to transfer the cemetery to another location far away from residential areas.
Esther Nakitto, says that the manner in which the bodies are buried isn’t proper because the handlers don’t cover the bodies fully.
Sam Sekamwa says that the cemetery is not secure and wants the authorities to move it. Kassanda Town Council LC III Chairperson, Ssande Mitego, says the problem is that the town council is seen as the responsible organ for burying all dead bodies in Kassanda, which is not right. According to Mitego, Kassanda District comprises 3 constituencies, each with a Health Center IV but all the bodies are sent to Kassanda Town Council.
Mitego revealed that they have written severally to the responsible departments to address the mortuary issue in vain. He concurred with the protests of the residents about the location of the cemetery, saying it is in the middle of a residential area.
The Health Ministry Public Spokesperson, Emmanuel Ainebyona said that the issue of the mortuary hasn’t come to the attention of the ministry. “But given that the challenge has been brought to our attention, we shall work with the local government to have a quick solution,” he said.
