Communist Economics 101
The price of fuel in China is kept at artificially low prices by government mandate. This has led to some unforeseen consequences as the global price of oil has climbed and domestic refineries have been unable to produce enough fuel at the official price. One crematorium has hit on a novel way to cut fuel consumption.
They only burn the bodies part way.
Villagers in Hengyang county, in the southern province of Hunan, discovered the practice when an "unbearable stench" started coming from the site, and tried to block a road on Wednesday to stop funeral vehicles from delivering more bodies.
The village sent people to investigate the smell and the South China Morning Post said they saw "crematorium workers putting half-burnt human remains and organs in plastic bags and throwing them into a nearby ditch."
"As the price of diesel rose, we saw more and more bags thrown out from the crematorium," the paper quoted Xiao Gaoyi, a village representative and one of the witnesses, as saying.
Think of it as China's contribution to reducing carbon emissions. Since they won't do anything else. (Obviously, they took their cue from an American role model.)
World news | Gaius Friday, 7 December , 2007
By NortonPete, Saturday, 8 December , 2007 @ 6:16 am
“crematorium workers putting half-burnt human remains and organs in plastic bags and throwing them into a nearby ditch.”
Someone has a worse job than me. Outsourcing has its benefits.