People in the rural regions of Thaqeef, Haddad and Al-Qurai said there are several cemeteries in their localities that have become havens for stray dogs and wild animals due to total neglect from local authorities, Al-Madinah Arabic daily reported on Tuesday.
A source at Al-Qurai municipality told the newspaper that the construction of walls around cemeteries in the region are among the projects awaiting approval as part of the new year budget.
Saudi citizens underlined the need for taking steps to protect the cemeteries by providing proper maintenance and walls around them.
They said that there are more than 10 cemeteries that have been totally neglected.
There are no walls around them to protect them from stray animals, they said, adding many graves in these cemeteries had been swept away by heavy rain. Some of these cemeteries are overgrown with grass and weeds and look like jungles, they added. It is very difficult to enter these graveyards to carry out burials, they said.
The local residents also drew attention to the efforts made by some individuals to protect these cemeteries by setting up fences around them. However, they said, these fences had deteriorated with time.
Hamid Al-Maliki, resident of the village of Al-Sharya, noted that a project for renovating the local cemetery had been prepared after carrying out necessary studies and land surveys two years ago.
“However, it was not included in the projects approved by the municipality. The renovation work is still waiting to be carried out thanks to the apathy of the municipal authorities,” he said.
The local residents pointed out that they took up the matter several times, first with the Taif municipality and then with the Al-Qurai municipality, but to no avail.
