Prayer room will not disturb residents
New prayer room is set to provide space for members of the community to worship as well as offer community services.
Members of the Farrarmere Islamic Association met with concerned residents last week to unveil their plans to have a local house rezoned as a prayer room and community centre.
The house, which is on Main Street, was purchased by the association in 2021 and has since been used as a place of worship and offered Covid-19-related services to all residents. However, some expressed concern regarding the rezoning parameters.
“Residents are becoming more aware of what is happing in their area and are voicing their concerns,” said councillor Mary Goby.
“That is why it is important to have open and honest discussions about what is being planned here and many other developments taking place.”
According to Imtiaz Lambat of the association, the house will remain unchanged.
“We will be adding ablution facilities and creating space for our community centre, but residents can rest assured that we will not turn it into a monstrosity,” he said.
“Our goal is to create a space for our members to worship but to offer community services for all Farrarmere residents, such as weekly doctor visits and skills development like cooking classes as well as self-defence.
“When the water in the area is off, as is quite often the case, we will be supplying water to residents.”
Some residents questioned the impact the facility would have in terms of noise pollution and parking facilities.
Imtiaz explained the traditional call for prayer is transmitted to members’ homes.
“Our call to prayer will not be broadcast via loudspeakers as we do not want to infringe on our neighbours’ rights and respect that they are not necessarily Muslim,” he said.
“The premises offer substantial parking within the property so residents do not have to worry about vehicles blocking both sides of the road or taking over the island.
“Our application makes provision for only 100 people to be in attendance.”
Members of the association reiterated that they want the rezoning process to take its course to ensure all parties involved are informed about the facility’s activities.
“We appreciate everyone’s input and value the concerns that have been raised,” he said.
“As residents of Farrarmere, we want to create a dual-purpose facility that will not only serve our members but the community as a whole.”
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