Neither the first nor the last case of the wrong person being handed over to relatives for burial occurs in Cyprus.
This was announced on Thursday, January 16, by a representative of licensed funeral homes, Yorgos Kyriakidis. He emphasized that the main reason for this trend is the lack of professionalism and lack of control on the part of the competent government authorities. Kyriakidis recounted what happened last week at St. Anthony's Church in Kellia when relatives of the 92-year-old deceased gathered to bury her and discovered that an unknown woman was lying in the coffin.
He also mentioned that, despite all efforts, local authorities refuse to inform licensed funeral homes about which funeral home made such an unforgivable mistake. Kyriakidis noted that there are loopholes in the law that allow unscrupulous individuals to work in the industry.
“Residents of Cyprus should turn to professionals to conduct funerals, and not trust amateurs such as nurses and health workers,” Kyriakidis said.
Kyriakidis spoke about instructions that illegal funeral homes gave to various individuals so that the relatives of the deceased would choose them to organize the funeral.
“I was in second grade and listened to my father on TV talking about illegal funerals, and now I have a daughter who is in second grade and listens to me,” Kyriakidis noted.
He also mentioned that despite constant inspections carried out by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, some illegal offices continue to operate unhindered.
“An illegal funeral home was recently fined just €3,000 for operating illegally for 9 years. One gets the impression that it is better to be an illegal immigrant than to carry out legal activities and pay huge taxes,” concluded Kyriakidis.
Source: alphanews.live
