By Stan Szecowka, Gulfweekly.com

The 623rd and final burial plot was filled following a funeral in the Christian Cemetery in Salmabad at the weekend as church and community leaders wait anxiously on a promised donation of new land to come to fruition.

There is little room left to squeeze in any more deceased believers and digging up the footpaths may be the only choice. Otherwise, expats may have no alternative but to pay thousands of dinars to have the bodies of their loved ones repatriated to their home countries in Europe, Asia, Africa or the Americas.

St Christopher’s Cathedral dean, The Very Reverend Christopher Butt, said: “The Christian Cemetery Committee has raised the issue of the urgent need of land with the relevant authorities and we are assured that this is being seriously considered and that possible sites have been identified. It has also been raised by the priests and ministers of the longer established churches in Bahrain several times.

“We are looking at every possible corner of unused space in the cemetery and there are some which can be used, but the space is finite and the reality is that before too long there will not be any space for burial in the Christian Cemetery.

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