Faulty incinerators: Bear with us, says PHEB

The Penang Hindu Endowment Board plans to upgrade the Batu Lanchang crematorium with a new state-of-the-art incinerator.

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Hindu Endowment Board (PHEB) plans to replace one incinerator and upgrade the other, both with state-of-the-art diesel-fuelled burners, in the crematorium at Batu Lanchang Hindu cemetery here.

PHEB chairman, Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy also revealed that the comprehensive project would include re-designing and renovating the current crematorium complex.

Urging Hindus to be patient until the PHEB resolved problems of the two faulty incinerators, he said that the board needed some RM1 million for the project, including purchasing a new machine at a cost of RM513, 000 and upgrading the other for some RM110, 000.

The crematorium complex will be rebuilt into a green and sophisticated building taking into consideration environmental aspect of the project.

The board has submitted a project proposal to the state government.

PHEB, a statutory body under the state government’s jurisdiction, will finance part of the cost while the rest will be raised through public funds.

He revealed that currently only one incinerator was working while the other, a 20-year-old machine, had broken down since 2011.

“Please bear with us while we resolve this problem,” Ramasamy told a press conference here today.

He was responding on the commotion that occurred between bereaving family members and the undertaker when two bodies namely RSShanmuganathan Thevar, 32, and P Muniandy, 66, could not be cremated in the gas-fuelled incinerators yesterday.

In the ruckus, both families condemned PHEB of incompetence in managing the crematorium and the undertaker’s indifferent attitude for not informing them earlier on the damaged incinerators.

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

Ramasamy stressed that PHEB would take stern action against the undertaker, known as Rao; if he was found to have misled the families into believing that both incinerators were in good working condition and had wrongfully collected the fees of RM550 each for the cremation.

At the same press meet, PHEB executive director M Ramachandran said the board repaired one of the gas-fuelled incinerators for RM38,500 last year.

But, he said it was later learnt that the power supply in the area could not support the incinerators.

Tenaga Nasional had informed the PHEB that power trips would occur frequently due to voltage drop if both machines were run simultaneously.