Devon Dick | Dem tek we fe eediot

The government tek we fe eediot based on the response to the hosting of a ‘funeral service’ for the late Ambassador Anthony Johnson on Thursday, May 27, which was followed by the burial.

The TVJ newscast highlighted the double standards based on the Government’s no-funeral policy. Government spokespersons said it did not contravene the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA) because there was no body (corpse) present at the ‘funeral service’, and so it was a ‘memorial service’.

However, the DRMA states, “During the period from May 5, 2021 to June 2, 2021, no funeral services shall be conducted (whether at a place of worship or funeral home or any other place) and no funeral processions . . .” , and immediately after that prohibition it states what is allowed – a burial attended by 10 family members. Nowhere in the DRMA does it say that memorial services can be held.

Since the DRMA did not allow for a memorial service, how did the government spokespersons knew what stipulation would apply to memorial services? Would it be 10 people allowed, similar to a burial, or 25 people as at a wedding, or 30 as at a worship service? The Act does not countenance memorial services, and changing the name from a ‘funeral service’ to ‘memorial service’ does not change the content.

There is a saying, “If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it is probably a duck.” If a ‘memorial service’ has all the features of a ‘funeral service’, then it is a funeral service.

In any case, the vast majority of Jamaicans do not call the worship service for their deceased a ‘funeral service’, but most call it ‘thanksgiving service’. So based on the precedence set at the government official ‘funeral service’, every Jamaican can call the ceremony for the dead ‘thanksgiving service’ or ‘homegoing service’ and it would be legitimate. Why were we not told all these 15 months that memorial services can be held?

In addition, I have in writing from the relevant government authority, “. . . the issue raised by persons doing cremations and not having the body or the ashes at a ceremony, and this was denied”. I was told that even cremations without the ashes present were prohibited under the DRMA! The issue of no body (corpse) being present, making it permissible under the DMRA, is not true.

‘DEAD HERRING’

Additionally, I asked the relevant government official on behalf of a grieving family: “The family is asking whether they can have the burial and after the burial, then have a memorial service the following day.” Guess what was the response? Permission was NOT granted and the memorial service was not held. So how come, now, there was a ‘memorial service’?

The issue about the non-presence of the body (corpse) is a ‘dead herring’. What difference does the corpse make, unless the Government is claiming that all corpses are carriers of the coronavirus? Whether the corpse was present or not is neither here nor there.

Finally, you mean to tell me that the governor general, the prime minister and the clergy who were present at Ambassador Johnson’s ‘memorial service’ did not know that the DRMA does not allow for a memorial service?

And guess who was liable, of all the attendees, for violations of the DRMA? According to the DRMA, “the officiating clergy or person conducting the ceremony is directed to ensure that the provisions of this paragraph are complied with”.

The Government must stop tek church people and mourners fe eediot.

- Rev D. Devon Dick is pastor of Boulevard Baptist Church and author of Enduring Advocacy for a Better Jamaica, The Cross and the Machete and Rebellion to Riot: The Jamaican Church in Nation Building. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.