Amid the rise of COVID, some Sri Lankans are opting for cardboard coffins

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COLOMBO, Aug 24 (Reuters) – At a factory in Sri Lanka’s Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia city, workers use staples and glue to assemble long cardboard boxes, which will be used as coffins for some of the victims of the country’s coronavirus.

The coffin is made from recycled paper and costs a sixth of the cheapest wooden coffins, said 51-year-old Priyantha Sahabandu, the local government official who first came up with the idea.

As the number of Sri Lankan deaths from COVID-19 increases, some opt for these cardboard coffins when cremating their loved ones. The country recorded the highest daily death toll of 198 on Friday, with a total of 7,560 fatalities.

Currently, an average of 400 people die a day in Sri Lanka from various causes, including COVID-19, said Sahabandu, a member of the Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia City Council, a city in the Colombo district.

“To make 400 coffins you have to cut about 250 to 300 trees. To prevent this environmental destruction, I proposed this concept to the council’s health committee,” he said.

“With the spread of coronavirus, people had a hard time paying for expensive wooden coffins,” he said.

A coffin is seen inside a hearse near a funeral home, amid the coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19), on the outskirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka, on July 14, 2021. Image taken on July 14, 2021. REUTERS / Dinuka Liyanawatte

Each coffin costs about 4,500 Sri Lankan rupees ($ 22.56), compared to the 30,000 rupees of a cheap wooden coffin, Sahabandu said. It can hold up to 100 kilograms.

Coffins were initially used primarily for COVID-19 victims, but have become more popular among those concerned about the environment. Since the beginning of 2020, about 350 cardboard coffins have been delivered and the factory is working on another 150 commissioned by the council.

“Most people in the country support this. Today the issue supplies it. We are working on it,” Sahabandu said.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday announced a ten-day total closure to curb a further rise in COVID-19 cases driven by the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant.

($ 1 = 199.5000 Sri Lankan rupees)

(This story is corrected to fix the typographical error in the lead.)

Waruna Karunatilake Reports; Written by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Edition by Ana Nicolaci da Costa

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