The morgues and cemeteries in Maputo city are short of manpower, i.e. staff to carry out funeral and cleaning services. What's more, the municipality is hampered in its work by the proliferation of family cemeteries.

In the meantime, to minimize the damage, the Maputo city council has hired seasonal workers and set up a Community Education Department to raise awareness among families about cleaning the graves of their loved ones.

The Maputo municipality believes that cleaning the graves is the duty of the respective families, and says that several people have been hired to resolve this family absence.

"Municipal regulations prohibit burials taking place in homes. For this reason, one of our activities is to identify and eliminate family cemeteries and monitor the depth and size of the graves in these areas," said Hélder Muando, Municipal Director of the Morgues and Cemeteries Management Services, quoted by the News.

On the other hand, the municipality says it has invested in increasing the capacity of the morgue attached to Maputo Central Hospital, having rehabilitated one of the areas.

At the Michafutene morgue, the investment has been made to connect and receive all deaths from covid-19. Work is underway to get the morgue at the Infulene Psychiatric Hospital up and running.