The Makkah Mayoralty has completed a study that could see a tube system used next Haj to carry waste from Mina to underground chambers and recycling stations at the holy sites. Engineer Abdul Salam Mashat, Deputy Mayor of Makkah for Services, said the project will cost SR700 million. It will be carried out on an experimental basis if approval is granted by the Ministry of Finance. He said the project will be limited to the Shabain area, east of Mina and will cover the Southeast Asia and Turkey camps. If the project is a success, it will be implemented across Mina. Mashat said the project will help to clean the increasing amount of litter and waste left in the Tent City by pilgrims. He admitted that the standard of cleanliness at the holy sites has deteriorated because of a shortage of underground chambers where the waste is kept and recycled. There are currently only 1,000 chambers to store the waste of millions of pilgrims, he added. Mashat said that clean-up operations have already started in Muzdalifa and Mina as pilgrims have started leaving. The mayoralty has distributed 40,000 garbage containers all over Mina. It has also deployed hundreds of teams to spray insecticides to prevent the proliferation of insects and rodents.
