Twenty bodies including that of five minors, will be disposed of in a public cemetery in Naivasha after an expiry of 21-day-notice issued by Naivasha subcounty hospital.
While issuing the notice, the hospital noted that services at its mortuary were overstretched due to the badly decomposing bodies, some of which had remained uncollected for over six months.
Last year, the hospital expressed its concern over the rising cases where relatives were abandoning the bodies of their relatives in the mortuary due to the rising cost of burial.
Due to the move, the hospital said it was incurring huge losses every year as it moved in to dispose of the bodies every four months.
In the latest notice that is signed by Ezekiel Bowen for the Naivasha subcounty Public Health Officer, the bodies would be disposed of in a mass grave if the relatives failed to collect them.
The notice noted that the bodies which had surpassed the 21 days as per the Public Health Act, would be buried at Longonot Public Cemetery after the expiry of the deadline.
“This is to notify the general public and relevant authorities that the hospital mortuary has 20 badly decomposing bodies which have exceeded the 21 days as per the law,” read the notice.
This came as the county government last year acquired 21 acres in Mai Mahiu area to be used as a cemetery for residents.
The cemetery along the Mai Mahiu-Namcha road will serve Mai Mahiu and Naivasha residents who for years have relied on neighbouring towns to bury the bodies of their kin.
Naivasha cemetery which is located in a residential estate, was closed down over 10 years after it got filled up forcing relatives to bury their loved ones either in Gilgil or Longonot cemeteries.
Despite the county allocating millions for the cemetery, efforts to get the necessary land had hit the wall due to opposition from members of the communities opposed to a cemetery next to their farms.
