By Dayo Johnson

Akure—Ondo State  government has forwarded to the State’s House Of Assembly for legislative considerations, a bill to provide for the disposal of bodies by cremation as parts of efforts to control the spread of  contagious diseases among   residents   in the state.

Tthe Commissioner for Information, Kayode Akinmade while speaking with newsmen in Akure yesterday said the bill was part of government’s efforts to prevent spread of contagious diseases in the state.

Akinmade said the bill was necessitated by the need for a law to provide for the disposal of bodies by cremation of persons who died of contagious disease  to prevent the spread of such disease and others who may so wish to be cremated.

Giving details of the bill, Akinmade said at approval, the Commissioner for Health shall have power to establish or permit the establishment of such number of cremation as may be required in the state for the disposal of human remains by burning in accordance with the provisions of the law.
Akinmade   added   that no cremation shall be constructed within a distance of two hundred meters of any house or within fifty metres of any public highway.

An application for cremation he said may be made to the consenting authority, by the next-of-–kin of the deceased person in accordance with the written instructions of the deceased.

The Commissioner  however said that cremation become compulsory where a person dies of a deadly contagious disease or where there is a reasonable cause to suspect that a person has lied of a contagious disease and the remains may prove harmful to the public health.