Saudi- Finding your way to loved one's grave made easy

(MENAFN- Arab News) JEDDAH: A Saudi citizen in the Eastern Province has created an application which citizens can use to mark the location of the graves of loved ones in a database linked to a numbering system at their local cemeteries.
The application named Ikram and now available at online stores is the brainchild of Tareq Al-Zayid a retired Saudi Aramco employee who has used the system at Dammam Cemetery. He said it would be better than the current situation where families use stones or pieces of wood to mark the resting places of the deceased.
Al-Zayid was quoted as saying by a local publication recently that citizens can use the system he has invented to mark the graves at cemeteries in their own regions. He said he had developed the system over three years including gathering information by sending text messages to the families of the deceased in Dammam.
The application contains various data of a deceased person including the name birthday and date of death in the Hijri and Gregorian calendars. There is also the number and coordinates of the grave he said.
Al-Zayid said Eastern Province Mayor Fahd Al-Jubeir has supported his initiative. 'Deputy Mayor Abdullah Al-Quraini provided all the necessary facilities. He consulted me on the organization of the cemetery. I also received calls from officials in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates who want to copy the application' he said.
Arab News reported earlier this year that Al-Zayid had numbered 10000 graves at Dammam Cemetery out of his own pocket to help people find the resting places of their loved ones.
He had set up the numbers on metal plates at each grave which were then recorded in a database. The entire layout of numbers can be seen at the entrance of the cemetery. He said the idea was successfully applied in some cemeteries in Riyadh and Qassim.