PORTMORE residents and businesses have lost their long-running battle with death in their neighbourhood. After lobbying the planning authorities against it for four years, a funeral home, boasting modern facilities and an attractive facade, has been operating in the heart of the residential community of some 250,000 people since January.

No one is denying that the $30 million investment in Empathy Funeral Home & Chapel will provide a needed service – it’s the first and only funeral parlour and mortuary in the municipality.

Portmore’s discomfort is with the type of service and having to confront the ever presence of death.

“It does not seem to be affecting us adversely, but I’d rather not see it there,” said Dale Dixon, branch manager for Churches Cooperative Credit Union, which is next door the funeral home.

“I was a bit surprised that a funeral home would be put in front of a business district.”

Up to last year, Portmore businesses were vocalising concerns that the funeral home would frighten away their customers.

But Dixon now tells the Sunday Observer that so far, Empathy’s presence has had no discernible negative impact.

“My business has not been any slower since the funeral home began operating near to us. Quite frankly, it is not intruding on my business,” he said.

The home, easily identified by its eight-foot sign, is nestled between two financial institutions – National Commercial Bank and Churches – at West Trade Way, across from the Portmore Mall in St Catherine.

Housed in the newly constructed building, the mortuary has the capacity to store 48 bodies.

Objections to the funeral home were raised by residents as far back as 2001, but the St Catherine Parish Council, then led by former mayor Dr Raymoth Notice, ruled that the construction of a morgue in the town centre did not violate any of the town planning regulations, emphasising that the investors had met all the required safety and health standards.

“This funeral home is a very necessary facility in Portmore,” Ivanhoe Fisher, Empathy’s lead investor and funeral director. “Residents will find it very convenient considering the vast numbers of people living here,” he said, re-emphasising that the facility was fully compliant with guidelines laid down by the National Environment and Planning Authority (NEPA), the St Catherine Health Department and the St Catherine Parish Council.

Since January, Empathy has done 21 funerals, according to public relations manager Leo Hyde.

Three of those customers had good reviews.

“I was the third customer to use the funeral parlour when my father passed in January,” said Owen Campbell, a former police superintendent.

“The place is kept at a high standard and the service was very good.”

Ionie Wright found the service convenient.

“It took me three minutes from home to get to the parlour to see my mom’s body before the service,” said Wright, a secretary who works in Kingston.

“You can’t have a city without a funeral home, because death is inevitable.”

And, David Wynter endorsed the home as convenient, and its service ‘first class’ and economical.

Portmore, developed 39 years ago, in 1967, has a growing population and limited social services.

For mortuary services, residents turned to Kingston or Spanish Town, St Catherine’s capital, and sometimes employed the services of so-called ‘briefcase operators’ who chase after business at hospitals.

Empathy’s entry to the market has come with two new twists: the facility offers grief counselling services and, for those who need it, attire for the dead, which includes clothes, accessories, cosmetics, and perfumes and colognes.

“We have introduced a new innovation in caring for the grieving family and that is the services of a qualified family counsellor to the family, because it is our belief that in time of grieving for a loved one, the family needs professional counselling,” said Fisher, who studied mortuary science in Florida, he says, at the private Lynn University.

“As an added incentive, we even provide wheelchair, walker, first aid kit and drinking water to help relatives who faint or are overcome with grief at the funeral service.”

Fresh out of university in 1994, Fisher said he first attempted to set up a funeral home in Linstead, St Catherine, but those efforts were frustrated when the health ministry lost his file.

However, he decided to try again, this time in Portmore.

The mortician, who still resided in Miami at the time, said he flew to Jamaica 27 times in 24 months for meetings to review and approve his plans.

As a safety precaution and, said Fisher, to reassure the health department, he introduced a double treatment for bodies by installing a butterfly valve, which filtered the wastewater twice to mitigate any potential hazard.

He also provided, on request, samples of chemicals he would use in his trade to the health ministry, NEPA and the Water Resources Authority with samples of the chemicals, which included MadaCide-FD, a germicidal solution and disinfectant sanitiser; formaldehyde and embalming fluid; cavity fluid; and kerosene to treat maggot infestation.

The funeral parlour, which was constructed over the period January 2004 to November 2005, now employs nine people, according to Hyde.

“Truth be told, we have not had a complaint from anyone about the funeral home,” said Hyde, referring to its four months of operation. “On the contrary, we have been commended by residents for our foresight here.”

whytetk@jamaicaobserver.com