BY EDITOR
25th December 2013
However, no matter how much pain grieved families go through, they have to make proper burial arrangements for their beloved ones.And true to the adage that to every cloud there is a silver lining, some people have seen the opportunity to render a crucial service in these circumstances and earn a living!
They have established what we know today as funeral homes, a service relatively new in the country, thus drawing a mix of reactions.
At first these homes were not very popular, partly because of the culture which requires family members to bury their dead. People could not imagine someone else, apart from a member of the family, crying for or burying a deceased person who they do not know, even for free.
But over time, the reality that people can no longer afford to mourn their dead for long is setting in. So is the other reality that they also can no longer cope with the logistical demands of modern day funerals.
The situation has seen increased demand for funeral homes and true to Adam Smith’s law of demand and supply, the cost (read price) of hiring such services going up as well.
In short the service that at one point seemed part of the huge tide of imported fancy cultures settling in the country and sweeping aside our long cherished traditions and norms, is now more and more a necessity.
While acknowledging the necessity of such homes, it is the high cost of hiring their services that some people have complained about in a survey carried out by this paper’s Monday edition.
We must appreciate the plight of bereaved families and the fact that not all can afford to pay for such services.
This is especially so where the family‘s income may have been exhausted in treating and nursing the deceased.
Whatever the circumstances, losing a beloved one is a harrowing experience that demands sympathy and support, not added worries.
Exorbitant charges for funeral services add to the pain of losing beloved ones. But such is life! With costs of virtually everything hitting the roof, the rising cost of funeral homes was bound to rise at some point.
As an official of one funeral home said, most items used in rendering burial services are imported. The official may have a point, for like many other imported items, prices of those used by funeral homes also depend on the fluctuation of the US dollar.
Funeral homes are thus a necessary ‘evil’ for, like many other services, they make life easier for bereaved families. This is because they relieve them of chores that would have cost them time and human resources, though at a fee.
But while it is expected that they will desist from exacting a pound of flesh on desperate families, it is also important to acknowledge that they must be adequately compensated if their services are to be sustainable.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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