The general plan to be adopted by the Civil Defense to respond to emergency cases during the Haj season has been given the go-ahead by Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior. The plan, which focuses on providing pilgrims with basic services and shelter centers, will be implemented by the Civil Defense Directorate. The plan takes all necessary measures to transfer, evacuate and provide shelter to 10,000 pilgrims at a time in case of emergency situations in the holy sites such as Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah. All measures and precautions necessary for providing pilgrims and citizens with safety and protecting them from all types of dangers, accidents and disasters have been taken into consideration. The plan also highlights procedures for protecting public and private properties by mobilizing all resources for this purpose and also urges authorities concerned to design and provide to the Ministry of Interior their own detailed plans. Several government agencies will cooperate in implementing the plan. A record number of pilgrims are expected to perform Haj this year, the National Committee for Haj and Umrah said recently. The committee based its prediction after a record five million people performed Umrah during the just-concluded season. The Kingdom, according to statistics, issued over 4.8 million Umrah visas this season, registering an increase of about a million pilgrims. Saad Bin Jameel Al-Qurashi, Chairman of the National Haj Committee at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Makkah, said that the Haj season is expected to reach the highest in terms of number of pilgrims indicating that the Kingdom usually receives 1.7 million pilgrims from outside the country. The limited area in Mina may make it difficult for the authorities concern to issue more Haj visas, he said. According to a Reuters report, Al-Qurashi said, the Kingdom's revenues from Haj and Umrah range between $10 billion to $12 billion. According to the report, a pilgrim spends SR4,600 on an average. He said the Umrah and Haj season secures 14,000 seasonal job opportunities for the Saudi job seekers. Pilgrims may face a lot of problems at airports as was seen during the Umrah season, he warned. The General Authority of Civil Aviation has said it would impose strict financial penalties on airlines because some of their flights were delayed and created chaos at Jeddah airport. __
