JEDDAH, 8 March 2004 — Makkah’s well-known Al-Mualla cemetery here is drowning in sewage and the authorities are reluctant to act, according to a local press report.
Sewage continues to leak into the cemetery, Al-Nadwa Arabic daily reported, offending the religious sensibility of locals.
“Dead people have dignity,” Nabil Al-Hamawi told the paper. “One of the things that a dead man is entitled to is a clean burial spot. We are very upset about what it happening at Al-Mualla cemetery, where sewage from nearby houses leaks out. We must all work together to solve this problem and divert the water somewhere else.”
Al-Hamawi wants the municipality to replace the sewers.
Jameel Al-Oufi agreed. “Before we bury a dead person, we clean the body, using the finest scent and rose water. We do this because that is our duty to the dead. How can we bury the dead in a cemetery full of filth and pollution?” he asked.
He believes the sewage is violating the sanctity of the dead. “We can’t live in a place full of filth. I couldn’t live in a house or apartment into which sewage was leaking. We who have relatives buried there are especially upset and angry,” he added.
Relatives of those buried in the cemetery have approached the municipality, but apparently to no avail. “We have asked the authorities many times to solve this problem,” Sheikh Jaber Al-Madkhali said. “If they are not going to do anything, the people will have to work together to protect the dignity of the dead.”
