The proprietor of the Lyken/Newburg funeral home is calling on the Ministry of Public Security to put out a tender for the collection of human remains on behalf of the state, to eliminate what is being described as cronyism by a senior official of the Guyana Police Force.Dr. Dawn Stewart is convinced that the instruction of the Commissioner of Police to have human remains taken to the new Memorial and Crematorium Gardens Funeral Parlour is arbitrary and has created an uneven playing field.Her position is supported by the owners of at least two other established funeral homes, who have accused the police administration of touting the dead.Last week, Commissioner of Police Seelall Persaud defended his decision to have the new funeral home collect human remains, claiming that he was only agreeing to a request by the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana to allow the parlour to handle all Muslim dead.But the proprietor of Lyken Funeral Home and two other parlour owners said that this position is far from the truth, since the new Memorial and Crematorium Gardens Funeral Parlour has been collecting Non-Muslim dead on behalf of the police.“This parlour was called by the police to collect the bodies of the children and their teacher who drowned when the car they were travelling in plunged into a trench at Mahaicony; they were not Muslim dead,” one of the aggrieved funeral parlour owners said.Undertakers from the Lyken Funeral Parlour removing a body from a crime scene.“If the Commissioner is saying that the police can call any parlour, why didn’t they call Jerrrick’s on the East Coast to pick up those bodies? They call a parlour all the way from town and it wasn’t Lyken,” the parlour owner added.This newspaper was reliably informed that the police have an arrangement with several funeral parlours in the country to collect human remains on their behalf.“There is one in Berbice, one on the Essequibo Coast,
Cheap Womens Air Max 2019, another at Charity, Matthew’s Ridge, the Lyken/Newburg Funeral home and the Ezekiel Funeral Parlour on the West Demerara. These parlours have been collecting human remains on our behalf for as long as I can remember,” a senior police officer told this newspaper.Commissioner Persaud had said that there is no contract with the Lyken Funeral Parlour and therefore, the police have no obligation to them.But the parlour’s proprietor is arguing that in the absence of a written contract, an oral contract is just as binding.“I did not say Lyken Funeral Home does not have a contract, what I did say is that I was unable to gain another written contract with new arrangements since our arrival in Guyana in 2007. But we were given oral confirmation on several occasions, most recently from the outgoing Commissioner Mr. Leroy Brummel” said Dr Stewart.She said that in 2008, they were requested to submit their current charges, which was submitted to the Guyana Police Force (GPF).“This is not about fair competition; the issue is about cronyism, payoffs, touting,
Cheap Shoes Australia Online, nepotism, less than a level playing field and unprofessional business practices. We all know that in many cases, a document that has been written and signed has an ironclad force behind it, the full power of the justice system,
Nike Shoes Mens Clearance Sale,” Dr Stewart said.She said that her organization is not questioning the right of the CIOG to request Muslim families to use Memorial Gardens Funeral Parlour.“This has no relationship to the removal of human remains of persons who die under questionable circumstances. I have written to the new Commissioner SeelallPersaud on two occasions in reference to the contract to which I have not received a response, it’s ironic that after a request from C.I.O.G they were able to get a timely response to their request and I am yet to receive a response and or a meeting with the new Commissioner,” Stewart explained.She said that since she has taken over the running of Guyana’s oldest funeral parlour, she has met with all the former Commissioners of Police to discuss contractual requirements and how they can better serve the Guyana Police Force, except the present Commissioner.In addition, according to Dr Stewart, the Lyken Funeral Parlour has had an extremely positive relationship with the C.I.O.G for several years, noting that last year Lyken developed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the CIOG through one Mr.Ramjohn.“Again, the issue is not the fact that C.I.O.G has decided to change parlours for Muslim human remains, they have for a number of years taken care of the Muslim human remains and occasions they have prepared the remains at our facilities. What’s unorthodox is for criminal cases or unnatural deaths that are being transferred without the police force having the courtesy of notifying Lyken Funeral home that their
