By Prior Beharry
OPEN-PYRE cremations for Covid-19 victims are being allowed by Government.
This was revealed in a release by the Office of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs on Thursday. These cremations were banned to stop the spread of Covid-19.
The Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) had filed for judicial review proceedings following the banning of such cremations.
The release stated that the decision was made after a meeting with Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi his legal advisor Fyard Hosein, SC, and spiritual head of the SDMS Pundit Dr Rampersad Parasram and its legal advisor Dinesh Rambally.
Dr Parasram is a former Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and a relative of the current one Dr Roshan Parasram.
The release stated, “The Attorney General informed of the Chief Medical Officer’s caution as to the extreme danger posed by improperly conducted open pyre/air cremations for Covid-19 victims and reminded that it remains difficult to predict the virulence and the vast mutations of the Covid-19 virus.
“Accordingly, the Attorney General also reminded that the Public Health Regulations, guidelines and protocols, which flow from the Public Health Ordinance, are not static and that the development of same are strictly responsive to and based upon a number of factors including the expert medical advice that the Government receives at any particular point in time.”
Contacted for comment, Rambally, who is also the MP for Chaguanas West, said he was happy with the announcement and the SDMS would still be cognizant and mindful of the various health protocols and will abide by them.
He said, “We are shifting gear and we have immediately engaged in crafting soft protocols to guide the Hindu community in how they should conduct open-pyre cremations.”
Rambally said he was working with the Pandits’ Parishad of the SDMS in drafting some soft protocols which the AG will take on board.
He said, “We will deliver same to him tomorrow at the earliest possible time. Thereafter, the AG and his team will work with the CMO and his team. I am hoping that a full reopening can occur by Monday. But it is the AG who is in a better position to speak to this. We want it at the earliest.”
Asked what will happen to the judicial review matter before the court, Rambally said the issue was being discussed “and will no doubt be guided by the reopening of open-pyre cremations.”
The release of the Attorney General stated, “The State has always informed of the constant review of positions taken in respect of the management of the Covid-19 pandemic and of the need to permit room for decision making based upon the factors involved in same.”
It stated, “The Government was not in a position to have come to this decision any sooner and remains grateful for patience and understanding in the management of the ravages caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in which thousands of persons have tragically lost their lives in our beloved country.”
