Questions have surfaced over the collection of fees from families using the mortuary at Fort Canje, even as regional authorities maintain that the facility is jointly operated by the Government and the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG). The issue was raised at Thursday’s statutory meeting of the Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) Regional Democratic Council (RDC), where questions were asked about the operation of facility located in the compound of the National Psychiatric Hospital. Unlike the mortuary at the New Amsterdam Regional Hospital, where families are not required to pay for storage of the bodies, persons using the Fort Canje facility are required to pay a fee.

Regional Executive Officer (REO) Ronald Harsawack explained that the Fort Canje mortuary is neither a private facility nor one reserved for members of the Muslim community. “I should point out that it is not a private facility, nor is it a facility for just one religion to utilise. It is a public facility that we have entered into that MoU (memorandum of understanding),” Harsawack told the RDC.

According to the REO, in February 2022, the Guyana Government, through the Health Ministry signed an MoU with the CIOG for the provision of mortuary services to residents of Regions Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and Six. “Part of that MoU includes shared costs and shared responsibilities between the Ministry of Health and the CIOG,” he explained. Harsawack said the agreement places responsibilities on both parties. Under the arrangement, he said, the Government is required to provide some of the staffing at the facility, while the CIOG pays for morticians and three hearses stationed there. Government, meanwhile, meets operational and maintenance costs. “It is a joint operation between the CIOG and the Government. It is not a private facility, but it is a facility operated by the Ministry of Health and the CIOG,” the REO said. However, while his explanation provided some clarity on the management of the facility and the division of responsibilities between the Government and CIOG, it did not address several questions surrounding the fees being paid by families. No information was provided at the meeting on who collects those fees, where the money collected is deposited or ultimately goes, how the charges are determined, or precisely what services the payments cover. Neither did the explanation establish how the money collected is accounted for or whether the Government, CIOG or another entity receives the revenue and ultimately benefits from the fees. The issue is particularly significant given Harsawack’s insistence that the mortuary is a public facility and his disclosure that Government itself uses it as part of the public health system.