Lawyers representing the wife of Sea Lots resident, Cedric ‘Burkie’ Burke, have requested that his body be preserved until there is an independent probe into his death.

The family is reported to have made a formal request for Mr. Burke’s medical records.

The request was made via in a letter sent to the Ministry by Attorney-at-Law Chelsea John over the weekend.

In response, the Ministry of Health, through its acting Legal Adviser, Mala Kowlessar-Tagallie, asked for documentation confirming that Mr. Burke’s wife is the lawful next of kin.

It said that once this is produced, the Ministry would have no problem in handing over of the medical records from Mr. Burke’s admission into hospital on September 9^th to his death on September 11^th.

The Ministry also said it had no objection to the preservation of the body of the deceased pending expert medical advice/confirmation as to the medical condition of Mr. Burke and his cause of death.

The letter Attorney John sent to the Ministry stated that she, together with Richard Clarke-Wills, was acting on behalf of Mr. Burke’s wife Felicia Samuel.

Mr. Burke was a well-known community leader in Sea Lots, who became the subject of controversy when he accompanied Port-of-Spain south MP Marlene McDonald to her Swearing-In as Minister of Public Utilities at the President’s House in May 2017.