Preparations for Pilgrims in Madinah Complete

Madinah Mayor Khaled Taher said that the municipality’s preparations for this year's Haj have been completed as scheduled. The municipality’s action plan aims at offering pilgrims and visitors optimum services which will last until Nov. 8.

The round-the-clock services include cleaning the areas which are frequented by pilgrims and the inspection of markets. “Some 4,876 qualified and trained workers will discharge their duties with the help of 1,344 pieces of purpose-built equipment,” the mayor added. He noted that the municipal staff is also prepared to supervise services related to health and hygiene, general cleanliness, markets and abattoirs. “There will also be monitoring committees to deal with hawkers and see that they abide by the regulations particularly in the central zone and other pilgrim areas including the Quba Masjid, Qiblatain Masjid and Miqat where more than 500 stalls are operating with valid licenses,” Khaled Taher said, adding that violators would be dealt with severely and that special care was being taken to keep the passageways between the stalls free for pedestrians. He noted that the municipality had also cooperated with the pilgrims’ accommodation committee with 20 trained workers. “The municipality has asphalted the roads and built pavements on the streets leading to pilgrims’ service centers and bus stations on the Hijra Road,” he underscored.

A total of 1,400 Haj flights have landed at Prince Muhammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah as of Wednesday at the rate of 70 flights a day, the airport’s director Abdul Fattah Bin Mohammed Atta announced. He said more than 250,000 pilgrims arrived on these flights and added that Sept. 28 would be the last date to receive Haj flights. The director said coordination was made with the Haj Ministry to provide the arriving pilgrims with buses to transport them to their destinations in the city. He said coordination was also made with airlines offices to schedule their flights. “Enough cadres have been provided at all the service points to ensure the guests of God with quick services,” he added. Atta said about 7,000 employees are working in the airport to implement the Haj plan, in which about eight government departments and 35 airway companies are participating.