BAHRAIN’S graveyards could be electronically mapped out to help create a database of those buried following complaints that the details of many plots had been forgotten over time.
The proposal, presented jointly by Muharraq Municipal Council chairman Abdulaziz Al Naar and Southern Municipal Council chairman Abdulla Abdullatif, aims to identify the last resting place of individuals, particularly in areas now used for multiple burials due to limited space availability.
The two leaders suggest a computerised network system be installed at the emblem chambers or rooms, in which details of the deceased are entered alongside a link to all government bodies concerned, alongside corresponding numbers painted on graves and highlighted on a digital map.
“Through community efforts some caretakers at graveyards and cemeteries have started numbering graves and noting down names,” said Mr Abdullatif.
“This is not official and there is no database,” he added. “Recent burials are known to family members, but just ask some people where their ancestors are buried and they are left speechless.”
He added a modern database would also help locate old graves that could be used for new burials.
Mr Al Naar believes an information screen in which people can key up names could be installed at cemeteries and graveyards.
“Many people want to recite verses of The Quran for deceased relatives, especially if they were unable to attend the funeral,” he said.
“Help could be provided for recent burials knowing that some have started numbering or putting pictures on tombstones, but for those deceased 20 years ago, the task is difficult or impossible.”
He added that an electronically linked system would offer a solution to the issue. “No one currently knows how many graves or people are buried in any one cemetery,” said Mr Al Naar.
He would like to see the proposal tested in the country’s largest cemeteries and graveyards in Muharraq, Hoora, Manama and Hunainiyah.
mohammed@gdnmedia.bh
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