The Prime Minister was outraged, the Director of Public Prosecution is concerned, and the Ministry of Social Development has launched an investigation into the imprisonment of two staff members of SEARCHLIGHT newspaper at the Kingstown Cemetery last week Tuesday evening.

The incident, which was carried on the front page of last week’s newspaper sparked much debate.{{more}} During a speech at the opening of the new building to house the Intermediate High School last week Friday, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves said that he accepted responsibility but not blame for what transpired, and distanced himself from “the conduct of those officials… who function outside of the framework of the law.”

A relative of the dead woman, whose corpse was at the centre of the controversy, when contacted by SEARCHLIGHT, was however adamant that the newspaper was wrong to “interfere in a private matter.”

She accused SEARCHLIGHT of being too inquisitive and said that the reporters caused all the commotion that took place.

“The woman daughter had all the papers she needed to have and it was just a simple mistake that we were correcting,” she said.

“She was buried in the wrong plot so we organized to have her moved, now all we want is for her to rest in peace,” she said.

However, what she termed a simple mistake being corrected is being probed by Government

officials.

According to the laws of St Vincent and the Grenadines, we have been informed, a body can only be exhumed by a court order or a direct order from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

“I don’t know who gave permission, and I am concerned about who did what they did and why,” said DPP Colin Williams.

He said that his office did not give an exhumation order and he did not hear of any such court order so he was curious as to the circumstances surrounding the actions that stirred this controversy.

Rosita Snagg, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Social Development, under whose portfolio the Kingstown Board falls, said that her Ministry was still investigating the matter and collecting reports.

“When our investigations are completed then we would decide the way forward and determine what needs to be done,” she said.