The local Muslim community is ringing the alarm bell because they have nowhere to bury their loved ones in Thorold.
Imam Asad Mahmood, who is the president of Mosque Aisha in downtown Thorold, gave a presentation on the issue during Tuesday’s city council meeting.
“We are missing a Muslim cemetery in the region,” Mahmood told council members. “Every time we have a burial we have no clue where to go. We all love to be next to our loved ones after we die. It would be nice to have a designated spot for Muslims.”
Currently, the members of the mosque have to go to Welland for their burials.
“They keep telling us that they’re running out of space,” said Mahmood. “We’ve been taking our bodies over there but they want to stop us. Eventually we will have nowhere to go.”
Mahmood went on to stress the urgency of the matter.
“Unfortunately it has been a year since I’ve been in touch with the city and we haven’t had any solution or anything to start with,” he said. "We are part of this city, we are part of this community. A cemetery is one of the basic needs of any resident in any city in the world.”
Councillors asked Mahmood if he had a burial place in mind, to which he responded that the mosque has identified a vacant lot in Lakeview Cemetery.
“The water and the road are not there so I think the city needs to do an investment,” Mahmood said. “As long as we have our designated spot we are okay with it.”
Councillors directed City Hall staff to work on a solution and come back with a report on the financial costs of the endeavour.
