PLUMTREE The district hospital's mortuary has been broken for months, amid allegations that some town council officials misappropriated funds contributed by residents for its refurbishment.
The mortuary broke down in January this year and since then it has not received any significant repair. This has led to a serious health hazard as dead bodies have accumulated. In June this year the hospital had to conduct a mass burial in an effort to reduce the spread of disease. 15 bodies were buried in three graves. “When the councillors noted the poor state of the district mortuary they called for a residents meeting where they requested us to contribute 10 Rands per household, including people from the two rural districts, Mangwe and Bulilima,” said Edwin Ncube, a Plumtree resident.
According to the residents, the council has still not accounted for the funds they supplied. “We have tried to call for a meeting with the councillors but they keep boycotting any gatherings we organise,” said one of the residents. When contacted for comment the Chairperson of the Councillors, Nothando Msimanga-Dube, said they did not boycott the meetings, but had unavoidable issues that prevented them from attending.
“It is wrong to say that we boycotted the meeting. They are the ones who gave us the wrong venue details, besides these days we are busy with preparations for the 2010 budget and their meeting clashed with the burial of one of our councillors,” she said. Msimanga Dube acknowledged that the mortuary was not working and that they had requested the residents to contribute money towards its refurbishment.
Post published in: Analysis