Griffith’s Sikh community had been pushing for a crematorium in town for more than a decade. Photo: Denny Fachin/What’s On Griffith Facebook.
Griffith’s Sikh community has welcomed the news that cremations will start in town as early as this month, after advocating for a local service for more than decade.
Local company Griffith Regional Funeral Services says it expects to operate its service before the end of the month after purchasing its own cremator.
Another business, Trenerry Funerals, has also bought a cremator and will offer cremations on a site it is building in Yoogali early next year.
While this benefits the entire population, it’s particularly satisfying for the towns 1000-plus Sikhs – members of a North Indian religion that believes the physical body is a temporary vessel for the soul.
For this reason, Sikhs prefer the burning of the dead body to ashes rather than a burial. For years, they have had to drive two hours to Wagga to farewell a loved one.
“The last thing you want to do during your sorrow is to have to travel a long distance,” Sikh community leader Narinder Sandhu said.
“Going to Wagga and back means it takes up the whole day.”
Sikhs in Griffith had lobbied state and local governments to help them establish a crematorium in town.
“It’s been ongoing for our whole community for a long time. I came in at 2020, but they pushing for years before that. We even started a petition to try to get this happening,” Mr Sandhu said.
“When we started this, I was surprised that it was not just the Indian or Punjabi community that wanted this, but a lot of other different groups as well.”
Griffith Regional Funeral Services’ cremator arriving in town recently. Photo: Supplied.
Buddhists and Hindus also prefer cremations, as do some environmentalists, due to the fact there is less use of land and resources. Cremation services will also reduce pressure on Griffith Cemetery, which is close to capacity.
Around 70 per cent of funerals in Australia are cremations, which are around a third of the cost of burials.
“We are very happy to finally have this service in town,” Mr Sandhu said.
Manjit Lally Singh, the only Sikh to ever be elected to Griffith Council, had also lobbied for cremations and was pleased to see it come to fruition.
“I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to our entire community and to Peter Woodward and Griffith Regional Funeral Services on the commissioning of the new cremator,” he said.
“For a long time, many of us in the community have been advocating for and pushing to have this service available locally. It ensures that during a difficult time, our families have more choice, greater convenience, and do not have to travel far.”
Originally, the local government body had agreed to buy the cremator itself and lease it to Griffith Regional Funeral Services.
However, Councillor Tony O’Grady moved a successful motion that the local government body remove the $400,000 in funding for the cremator from the current budget in June.
Last week, the council published a media release stating the private funeral company had purchased a cremator independently, with no financial support at all from council.
“We expect to be fully commissioned and operating before the end of next week,” Griffith Regional Funeral Services owner Peter Woodward said.
Mr Lally expressed his delight.
“It is especially commendable that this important service has been fully self-funded by Griffith Regional Funeral Services, without any financial burden on the council. Knowing that it will be fully operational by the end of next week is wonderful news.”
Cremation services will be offered at the funeral company’s premises at 172-174 Wakaden Street.
