SEVERAL citizens have criticized Madinah Municipality for its negligence in taking care of graveyards across the city. The citizens called upon the authorities to construct walls around graveyards out of respect for people buried there. Many cemeteries in the city lack protective compound walls while others are misused as waste dumps or children's playgrounds. Graveyard No. 11 adjacent to a well-known shopping center on the second ring road is only one among them. Al-Madina Arabic daily conducted a survey of abandoned graveyards in the city to invite the attention of the authorities to the pitiable state they are in. The newspaper has found out at least 50 graveyards in the city remain without compound walls. Graveyard No. 4 in Uhud and Graveyard No. 5 in Orwa do not have compound walls and require special attention, the paper said. "These graveyards have become playgrounds for children, cats and mice because they are not fenced off," said one citizen, pointing out that Graveyard No. 7 in Al-Awali has become a waste dump. The authorities have awarded contracts worth nearly SR3.5 for the maintenance of graveyards including construction of compound walls a few years ago. But only one of the graveyards has been handed over after maintenance, the paper said. "A SR2.3 million contract for construction of compound walls was awarded five years ago but until now only half of the project is completed," the paper pointed out. Graveyard No. 11 is on a private property in Al-Awali district. A lawsuit has been filed to construct a wall around the old graveyard. Graveyard No. 5 is located along the road in Orwa district. "A lot of development work is taking place in the district but the graveyard remains as it was without any change for the past 60 years. Contracting firms keep sand and other construction materials inside the graveyard," the report said. Al-Awali Municipality has not given any care to the graveyard in the district. Even though it has a compound wall people have converted this 100-year-old graveyard into a dumping ground. Many citizens have expressed their anguish on people throwing waste in the graveyard without showing any respect to the dead. "The mayoralty should take immediate steps for maintaining and cleaning the graveyard," one of them said. Mohammed Haushan Al-Harbi, the district mayor of Orwa, said authorities have ignored the graveyard for the last 60 years. "The mayoralty has not built a wall around the graveyard. They have just put up a signboard," he said. Abdul Rahman Jaza, a Saudi, emphasized the need to construct compound walls around graveyards to protect the sanctity of the dead. "The mayoralty spends billions of riyals on development projects but it does not allocate any funds for the maintenance of graveyards. This is sheer negligence." Ahmed Mafouz said many graveyards that are located in the middle of districts do not have compound walls. Some people throw waste to graveyards showing disrespect to the dead. Anas Hamdan also criticized the mayoralty for its negligence toward graveyards. The mayoralty should ensure cleanliness and maintenance of graveyards, he added. Dr. Ali Bin Abbas Hekami, a member of the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars and member of the Islamic Fiqh Academy, said the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, has instructed Muslims to respect the dead in graveyards and should not walk over them. "We should maintain graveyards properly and prevent everything that defiles them," Hekami said. He stressed the need to construct compound walls around them in order to safeguard them. "We should put up information boards detailing etiquettes of visiting graveyards near them so that nobody will show disrespect for the dead by throwing waste or walking over the graves," he added. Yahya Bin Saif Saleh, assistant deputy mayor for services, said if people inform the mayoralty about individuals throwing waste on the graveyard it would take punitive action against them. He said a committee would be formed to study the condition of graveyards in the city. Saleh said walls have been constructed around 136 graveyards. "People should inform us when they see any graveyards without walls. Nobody should be allowed to remove the remnants of bodies in a grave except through a religious ruling when removing it becomes absolutely essential." The Madinah mayoralty had previously announced its plan to link Baqie cemetery near the Prophet's Mosque and 105 other graveyards with the GPS system. This will enable the public to locate the graves of their relatives and other loved ones in the city easily. The project involves preparing an archive of people buried in Baqie in the past 70 years. But the mayoralty has not yet implemented the project. One and a half years ago, the minister of municipal and rural affairs had urged all municipalities to construct walls around graveyards and give them proper care and maintenance. Graveyards should be established in prime locations and guards should be appointed to look after them. The road to the graveyard must be asphalted and it should be protected from floods. The ministry's directive seeks continuous cleaning and maintenance of graveyards. The name boards on graveyards should be dusted regularly.
