Cremate dead bodies, it is cheaper and healthier – Funeral home MD advocates
Dr Andrew Anane Arkutu, Managing Director of the Lashibi Funeral Home, has called for the adoption of cremation as an option for the disposal of dead bodies instead of burial.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Friday, he said it was cheaper to cremate than to bury the dead.
Dr Arkutu said apart from the cost of burial being higher, cremation had other benefits for the society.
He said the body begins to decompose immediately death occurs and even though embalming delays the process of decomposition, it does not stop it.
Dr Arkutu explained that the rate at which the body decomposes varies, depending on factors such as exposure to water, the presence of oxygen and activities of worms, bacteria and insects, adding that, under normal conditions after burial, it takes about 15 years for the body to decompose completely.
He said in contrast, cremation takes only about three hours for the whole body, including the skeleton to be reduced to ashes.
The Managing Director further explained that cremation is the process of applying extreme heat of temperature of up to 1000 Degree Celsius to the body.
He said because water makes up 75 per cent of the human body, with the extreme heat, the water breaks down into its elements, hydrogen and oxygen, which simply evaporate into the atmosphere.
Dr Arkutu said cremation of an adult body weighing about 100 kilogrammes, is reduced to only three kilogrammes of remains, which is referred to as ‘ashes’, made up mainly of the calcium from the big and long bones of the skeleton, the skull, spine, pelvis, arms and legs.
He noted that cremation even though had been practiced for many years, had brought into play religious controversies and was the preferred method for disposal of the body among Hindus, Buddists, and other Asian religions.
He said now, almost all major Christian denominations openly support cremation and accepted in many countries and societies.
Dr Arkutu said in Ghana today, it is much cheaper to be cremated with dignity for the deceased and to the comfort of the bereaved.
Source: GNA