Families angry over faulty incinerators

Two families feel deceived that the cemetery management did not inform them that the incinerators were not in working order despite collecting fees for the service.

GEORGE TOWN: There was an uproar yesterday evening at the Batu Lanchang Hindu burial ground when two bodies could not be cremated in the gas-fuelled incinerators.

Family members of the deceased RS Shanmuganathan Thevar, 32, and P Muniandy, 66, have already lodged separate police reports alleging they had been cheated by the cemetery operator.

Shanmuganathan died at 5.30am yesterday, while Muniandy at 11.20pm on Monday night.

The crematorium complex, built by the previous Barisan Nasional government, has two incinerators, which comes under the Penang Hindu Endowments Board.

The drama started when family members brought Shanmuganathan’s body at 3.30pm for cremation.

After performing the last rites, Shanmuganathan’s body was pushed into an incinerator at about 4.30pm.

The deceased’s brother-in-law R Sankaran, 56, said he suspected something amiss about half hour later when he saw no smoke emitted from the incinerator room.

He immediately opened the room’s iron door and found that the incinerator was not switched on at all.

At the time, Muniandy’s body was also brought in for cremation in another incinerator which was also found to be faulty.

Both families ended up cremating the bodies the traditional way by using firewood.

They did not accept the cemetery caretaker’s explanation that technical problems caused the incinerators to break down.

Muniandy’s son Thyagarajan, 39, said he had been told by others that both incinerators were under repair for past few months.

Both families believe the operator hid the truth that the incinerators were under repair for a few months.

They said the operator and the board should have informed the families on condition of the incinerators before collecting cremation fees.

Both families paid RM550 each to cremate the bodies by the gas-fuelled incinerators.

However, the caretaker, Rao, refuted claims that the incinerators were not in working order for a few months.

He said a body was cremated in an incinerator a few days ago and he did not know why both the burners did not work yesterday.

He added that he planned to put up a signboard to inform Hindus that the incinerators were now under repair until further notice.