BODIES of Covid-19 patients are stacking up in hospitals and makeshift morgues despite the two major crematoriums in the Klang Valley already running at full capacity, as deaths from the coronavirus keep rising, crematorium operators said. 

Family members of the victims have expressed their frustration over the situation as they have to wait several days before their loved ones are given a proper send-off.

The Malaysian Insight visited two crematoriums in the Klang Valley – Kampung Tunku crematorium operated by Petaling Jaya City Council and Cheras crematorium operated by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) – to have a look at the situation.

The situation is so bad now that there is a five to seven-day waiting period before a body can be cremated at the two crematoriums.

The operators said they are doing their best to accommodate the increasing number of deaths in the Klang Valley since the country started to record a spike in Covid-19 fatalities.

They, however, said they are bound by the operating capacity of the burners.

Manager at the Cheras crematorium, who only wanted to be identified as Kavin, said they have seven burner machines and they could cremate up to 28 bodies a day, with each machine taking a load of four bodies.

Even with the rising number of Covid-19 deaths, he said not all slots could be given to such victims as they also have bodies of non-Covid-19 cases coming in daily.

They have to divide the slots equally to accommodate both Covid-19 cases and non-Covid-19 cases, which causes bodies to pile up in hospitals.

“We will give 14 slots for Covid-19 deaths and another 14 for non-Covid-19 deaths each day,” Kavin said.

“We also have specific timing for them, between 10am and 11.30am, and 2pm and 4pm, for non-Covid-19 cases and between noon and 2pm, and 4pm and 6pm, we handle Covid-19 cases.”

The Cheras crematorium receives bodies of Covid-19 patients from Hospital Kuala Lumpur and Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz UKM (formerly known as HUKM).

With the spike in fatalities, Kavin claimed that some of the Covid-19 cremations could be delayed up to five days.

At Petaling Jaya’s Kampung Tunku crematorium, caretaker Robert Solomon said they are also running at full capacity with all three burners being used.

He said they also have to divide the slots equally daily despite the soaring number of Covid-19 deaths in the state.

“We allocate three slots in the morning for non-Covid cases and three slots after noon for Covid-19 cases,” the 58-year-old said.

“Our burners can only cremate two bodies each daily. It is not that we don’t want to do more, but if we load more than their limit, the burners may break down and cause a huge problem, leading to a serious backlog.”

Solomon said they would accommodate more Covid-19 cremations if they have fewer non-Covid-19 cases to handle.

He, however, said even now, the crematorium has a one-week advance booking, with most of the backlog cases from two hospitals – Hospital Sungai Buloh and University of Malaya Medical Centre.

“The booking for Covid-19 cases is non-stop. We are trying to accommodate as many as we can,” he said.

“But the deaths keep rising in the state and we have no choice but to delay the new cases as we still have those on the waiting list.”

Referring to the body they just pushed into the burner, Solomon said the patient died eight days ago.

Recently, Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said two cremators will be added in the state for speedier cremation of the bodies of non-Muslim Covid-19 victims in the state.

Malaysia has recorded 8,551 fatalities since the start of the pandemic. Of this, a staggering 8,080 deaths were recorded since the start of the year.

The Klang Valley has seen the highest number of cases since the start of the pandemic.

In the past three days alone, Malaysia has recorded 557 deaths, of which Selangor and Kuala Lumpur reported a combined 294 fatalities.

Banking on the burners

Both Kavin and Solomon said they are banking on the burners for smooth operation during this critical period.

They said as long as all the burners work without giving problems, they can maintain the same load.

However, Kavin said, even now, one of the machines is faulty and they have to reduce the number of bodies being cremated.

He said repairs and maintenance work during the current movement-control order (MCO) period take time as most of the spare parts shops are closed.

“Now, of the seven, one is under maintenance as there are some problems with it,” he said.

“We have our engineering team at DBKL, but the repair or maintenance work takes time because the parts are not available as the shops are closed during MCO.”

Solomon said if a burner goes faulty, he gets pressured by hospitals and family members, and even his higher-ups.

“When there is a problem with the burners, we face a lot of problems because the bodies are stuck in the hospitals and they want to clear them.

“Over here, we can’t do much because it is technical and spare parts are needed, which are difficult to get now due to MCO,” he said.

“So, we have no choice but to reduce the number of cremations. Then, we have to face the wrath as if we did it on purpose.”

Solomon said the people must understand that the crematoriums are used for non-Muslims.

“For Muslim funerals, there can be even 50 burials at the same cemetery in a day, depending on the available space,” he said.

“But for the non-Muslims, the process here depends entirely on the burners. If they break down, there is nothing that can be done but to wait for they to be repaired.”

Both Kavin and Solomon hoped they will not encounter any major problems with the burners during such a critical period. – July 29, 2021.