SAVUSAVU residents have raised concerns about bodies decomposing and foul smell at the town’s morgue after a reported service breakdown.
Paul Hazelman, speaking at the “Meet the Public and Press” forum on Wednesday, said the issue had sparked public concern.
In response, sub-divisional medical officer Dr Tiko Saumalua confirmed two reported cases of body decay in the country after the facility went offline.
“We are very thankful to the Government. The recent announcement of the budget states that the government will extend the number of mercenaries who know how to lessen the burden on the morgue in Savusavu. We have identified sites,” he said.
He said the breakdown had put pressure on the eight existing morgue units in the area.
“Once this new program comes in, it will help reduce the burden on the eight units currently operating in Savusavu.”
Dr Saumalua said daily temperature monitoring — both analogue and digital — was now in place to prevent similar incidents.
“We have our monitoring system in place for all the units daily. The system measures temperature through both analog and digital monitoring, and the data is communicated to us every day.”
He said this allowed technicians to respond quickly to problems.
“The monitoring system is effective, and so far, it has been working well in controlling temperature.”
