Holness tells commish to crack down on mass attendance at funerals

June 04, 2020

Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness told Police Commissioner, Major General Antony Anderson, to ensure that cops monitor funerals, particular burial sites, to ensure that social distancing guidelines are being followed.

"We are very concerned about the burials ... It has been reported that there are police stations where reports have been made of these mass attended burials and the police have done nothing. I am saying to the police commissioner that he should increase his surveillance of these events and ensure that there is strong enforcement of the measures," Holness said.

He said that there would be "no compromise on the social distancing" requirement and stressed the need for persons at funerals to comply with the law, to help stem the spread of COVID-19.

Possible spreading

Two of the country's undertakers said the strict measures are necessary.

"The public's health is first and foremost ... so then all the precautions as was advised by the Ministry of Health and Wellness should be taken to avoid possible spreading of the virus," Joseph Cornwall, CEO of House of Tranquillity, told THE STAR. "Prosecution should be a last resort because one would expect that you have voluntary compliance. But in the absence of compliance, and in order to maintain public order at a reasonable standard, if people have to be prosecuted to obey the law, then fine."

President of the Jamaica Association of Certified Embalmers and Funeral Directors, Calvin Lyn, said that the protocols set out by the Government should at no time be disregarded.

"I'm in support of all those measure laid out to protect members of the public from this serious pandemic," he said. "Therefore, we would expect persons to comply with the rules."

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