SHAH ALAM (Bernama): Two cremators will be added in Selangor soon for speedier cremation of the remains of non-Muslim COVID-19 victims in the state, says Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari.

       The Selangor Mentri Besar said that currently, only one of the three cremators under the auspices of the Klang Municipal Council (MPK) could be used for cremation services.

       "This is one of our efforts to expedite the cremation process in a cost-effective manner.

       "The cremation services at the local authority’s crematorium will be carried out with the help of non-governmental organisations,” he told Bernama Monday (July 19).

       Meanwhile, Amirudin said burials and cremations of Covid-19 patients’ bodies were expected to be carried out three times a day following the recent announcement on the state's Centralised Management of Covid-19 Victims’ Remains initiative.

       "We will arrange for the cremation services to be carried out in the morning, afternoon and evening in an effort to lessen the number of Covid-19 patients’ remains at hospital mortuaries in Selangor,” he said.

       Funeral arrangements for Covid-19 patients in the state take place once or twice a day, depending on the number of bodies at hospital mortuaries.

       So far, more than 20 bodies of Covid-19 victims, including non-citizens, have been buried through the initiative.

       On the two cemeteries that have been selected for the intitiave, Amirudin said so far, the Section 21 Muslim Cemetery in Shah Alam and the Selat Klang Muslim Cemetery in Port Klang still have about 3.64ha of unused land for burials of Covid-19 patients.

       Amirudin announced the initiative, which aims to reduce the time taken to manage the remains of patients and ease congestion at several hospitals in Selangor, on Saturday (July 17).

       He said the initiative would involve the funeral arrangements for Muslim and non-Muslim Covid-19 victims at the Shah Alam Hospital, Sungai Buloh Hospital and Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital, Klang.

       Amirudin said the state government had also contacted the Foreign Ministry in an effort to speed up identifying the remains of foreign nationals who died from Covid-19 at the three hospitals. - Bernama