Are funeral homes in league with gunmen?

IHAPPENED to stumble across a section of an article in one of our local papers and was left aghast at a comment that was made by a funeral parlour operator.

After the initial shock, I got very alarmed over the comment. The comment from the man was that, since COVID-19 came to Jamaica, it was affecting his business and he was wondering if all the gunmen have gone into hiding because of that.

I am deeply disturbed by that utterance. In a country that suffers from such high levels of violence, especially murders, that inconsiderate comment is beyond the pale. It’s like the gentleman was aggrieved that the virus was stopping gunmen from killing innocent people so that he can get some business. When did we fall to such a low?

It then begs the question: are some funeral parlour operators in cahoots with gunmen to provide them with bodies? With that sort of a comment coming from a parlour operator, the chillingly obvious answer is not far-fetched at all. Not only that, but, for years, the speculation is that there is such a link. And I say speculation because I have no hard evidence to be affirmative. But after such a comment, one does have to wonder.

Even at the basic level of human decency, that sort of comment should never have been uttered. The hundreds of innocent lives that are snuffed out yearly in this country is not something to gloat about.

That sort of deeply offensive and inconsiderate behaviour is all too prevalent in our society, and it cannot continue. Even if one is profiteering off the deaths of others, one should not be so callous and flippant about it. It’s disgraceful.