A local funeral home that has had its electricity supply cut off since December is now operating solely on a mini-generator and residents living adjacent to the Kemuel Cox Funeral and Cremation Centre are complaining about potential environmental and health hazards.

One female neighbour who wanted to remain anonymous said Wednesday that president of the funeral home Kemuel Cox asked her to use an extension cord to connect electricity from her house to the funeral home because he needed to continue embalming bodies but had no electricity.

When The Journal arrived on the scene Wednesday the mini-generator that the funeral home is now operating on loudly buzzed through the tiny Royal Palm Street.

A number of residents who live nearby said the noise from the machine is very much a nuisance.

Lorenzo Laing said his mother owns the Blue Moon Restaurant which is next door to the funeral home and he is concerned about any health hazards that could arise if the generator fails.

“This elderly lady right here, the noise is around her head, the gentlemen’s electricity has been disconnected weeks ago,” he said.

“He hooked up this generator yesterday, there is a dead body inside there and they need to keep it cool, he needs to stop his foolishness, we never wanted him in the area, so that has to go. Ms. Kemp has to tolerate this noise.”

Another area resident, Paul Kemp, said his 81-year-old mother who lives directly behind the funeral home can no longer tolerate the noise coming from the generator that has been used for more than a week.

“He needs to pay his bill or close this down until he gets the money to turn his light back on, nothing against him,” he said.

“I told Mr. Cox this morning, my mother can’t take that he needs to get his light on or I’m going to have to make a complaint.”

When the Journal visited Mr. Cox at the funeral home he declined our request for an interview and denied the residents’ complaints.

He insisted that his electricity is on.

But when asked why a generator was needed he said the machine is being used to operate an aspirator, a machine which is used to drain fluid from the human body.

However, another local funeral home informed the Bahama Journal that a generator is not needed to operate an aspirator unless the establishment’s electricity is off.

According to Mr. Cox his Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) payments are up to date and he denied ever asking a neighbor to borrow an electrical cord.

Reliable Journal sources confirmed though, that Mr. Cox has been disconnected from the electricity supplier for four months.

Mr. Cox declined to say how many bodies are in the funeral home.