Trustco and NamPol partnership will ease mortuary load
Zorena Jantze
A freezer container donated as a supplementary mortuary to the Namibian Police by Trustco Group Holdings (TGH), in response to the critical overcrowding of bodies at the morgue is welcomed by NamPol as spontaneous volunteerism, patriotism, and human kindness when a nation needs unity and empathy most.
Namibia’s premier and most prominent post-independence conglomerate, Trustco, arranged for the freezer in cooperation with the Namibian Police High Command in a record time by also reacting to its influential Informanté News and Informanté Radio news channels, recording the devastation of COVID-19 and congested mortuaries countrywide.
The additional mortuary already alleviated much pressure and is now assisted by a freezer container from the Ministry of Health that will restore order and dignity to deceased Namibians and their families.
Namibia is currently going through its darkest hour with the COVID-19 pandemic, with an average of 70 deaths announced daily, whilst the total death toll reached 2 240 on 13 July 2021.
Commissioner Nelius Becker, Director of the Namibian Police Forensic Science Institute, stated that during this third wave of the pandemic, Namibia experienced a significantly higher death toll. As the Ministry of Health’s hospital mortuary exceeded capacity, the police mortuary was used to handle the overflow. Unfortunately, the number of bodies sent to the police mortuary exceeded even its capacity, resulting in a biohazard at the police mortuary.
“Due to a low number of freezers, bodies were stored on the ground and rotated with ones already in the fridge. People deserve to be treated with dignity, even after death. The shortage of freezing facilities increased the handling of COVID-19 corpses as a result, which should be avoided at all costs, as this creates a health hazard,” Becker explained.
Becker stated that the Namibian police approached the private sector to see what aid could be given, and Trustco Group volunteered to donate a mortuary freezer container that will be used for COVID-19 related deaths specifically.
“On behalf of the Namibian police, we would like to thank the Informanté and Trustco Group for their patriotism, empathy, and immediate support when asked. If not for them, the health hazard here would have continued unabated. All other mortuaries in the country are also overcrowded and we thus welcome further support from the private sector where possible,” Becker noted.
PICTURED: Commissioner Nelius Becker. – Photo: Samuel Shinedima
