Michael Archer, the owner of the funeral home that has come up for public scrutiny after securing contracts for the removal of dead bodies from major hospitals in the corporate area and St. Catherine, has refused to comment on speculations regarding the exclusive deals that he has secured.
The businessman, who operates the Archer’s Funeral Home and Supplies Ltd, is the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) councillor for the Red Hills division in St Catherine. He has been awarded contracts to store bodies from the Kingston Public Hospital, The University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) and the Spanish Town Hospital.
When contacted by the Freedom Come Rain Newspaper, Archer said he had no comment.
“I have never commented on it ennuh, honest to God. I am not interested in giving any comments on it. Reason being for that [is] persons are talking until they find the facts, let them talk,” he said.
When asked about his contract with KPH, which is the largest hospital in the government health service, he had this to say, “I have applied for the removal of bodies from the hospital, and I have been the successful bidder and so we have the contract from the government and we collect the bodies.”
The Freedom Come Rain was informed that Archer’s also has the contract for the removal of bodies from the Linstead Hospital, but the businessman refused to entertain any other question.
Dr. Alfred Dawes, the opposition spokesperson on Health and Wellness had raised concerns about a possible conflict of interest regarding the contracts, seeing that Dr Christopher Tufton, The Minister of Health, is also the Member of Parliament for West Central St Catherine, the constituency in which the Red Hills division is located.
“Let us for a minute forget that Archers’ Funeral Home is owned by a JLP councillor in the constituency represented by the Minister of Health. Let us ignore the fact that this is no ordinary councillor, but one who was handpicked by the Minister of Health to replace another sitting JLP councillor amid much uproar in the constituency.
“Instead, envisage the anguish of witnessing a loved one suffering in their final moments, and then instead of being allowed to come to terms with their deaths, you are further burdened with the logistics of relocating their remains from all the way in Spanish Town due to a decision favouring a ‘special’ funeral home,” Dr Dawes stated in a press release.
Several persons had taken to social media to express their concerns regarding the arrangements with KPH, which has created additional financial burdens on families. According to Dr Dawes, storage arrangements at Kingston Public Hospital was previously managed by Jones’ Funeral Home on North Street. He said the storage facilities at St. Catherine were shared among three funeral homes—Robert’s, Morgan’s, and Archer’s, however, Archer’s now has the contract.
“I anticipate that the response of the MOHW will be that the process to award the contract to Archer’s Funeral Home was ‘above board.’ However, it was a wicked and uncaring lot that decided that little to no weight would be placed on the ability of grieving relatives to conveniently and affordably retrieve the bodies of their loved ones,” Dr Dawes said.
Responding to a viral Tiktok video in which a woman claimed he was linked to the Spanish Town based funeral home, Dr Tufton said it was fake news. In a post on Instagram, Dr Tufton warned that the claim by the blogger could lead to serious legal trouble.
The Freedom Come Rain was unable to reach Dr. Tufton via his mobile phone, however, in an interview with Nationwide News Network last month, he said the contract with Archer’s was subjected to the requisite public procurement rules.
He said he also got a memo from the chief executive officer of the UHWI hospital saying autopsies involving cardiac cases are to be done at Archer’s as dictated by the police. He noted that a relative of a deceased person, can request an autopsy on their own, at anywhere they chose.
Dr Dawes said that forensic autopsies in Western Jamaica are also exclusively conducted at Archer’s, resulting in an average post-mortem delay of three to four months. Bodies he noted, must undergo transportation across the island, often under police escort.
By Nadine Wilson-Harris