Fatima Muhammad Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The main challenges that arise during Haj, including ensuring cleanliness in the holy sites, were discussed at King Abdulaziz University (KAU) in Jeddah Wednesday. The meeting at the College of Economy and Management, which discussed management strategies for Haj and Umrah, also recommended increasing the number of toilets and providing more food from outdoor camps to prevent possible fires. A new vision was also presented that involved converting the camps into buildings. The meeting is in line with the orders of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, to implement a national strategy for Haj and Umrah. The strategy is being finalized and will be announced soon. Different bodies have been involved in setting up this strategy including Tawafa organizations, universities and institutes. Faiz Jamal, a member of the team working on this strategy, said the Kingdom has developed experience in crowd management and is able to deal with pilgrims who belong to different Islamic schools and come from varying cultures. The Tawafa organizations, he added, have 200 years of experience in serving pilgrims. There are 14 different bodies that work together to serve pilgrims, said Jamal. He added: “However, there is a need to come up with detailed plans that help serve pilgrims as well as providing safety and security to them to enable them to perform Haj in ease.” Jamal presented a study that addresses ways of providing comfort, safety and security to pilgrims. He said: “The number of pilgrims coming from abroad is 1.7 million, and in coming years 4 million pilgrims will join them from within the Kingdom. “All of them will head to the same place at the same time; therefore there is a need to put into place more plans to serve them.” Col. Nasir Al-Mutairi, head of training at the Border Guards Foundation, said security forces in all regions, not only Makkah and Madinah, are on hand to ensure maximum safety and security during Haj. According to Saud Mandoura, a faculty member of the College of Economy and Management, over 5 million meals will be distributed to pilgrims, who will be occupying three quarters of Makkah's available accommodation this season. He added: “After the Haj season we will be ready to study the challenges and try to overcome them in the coming season.” Khalid Maymani, head of the human resources department at the university, said even though Tawafa organizations have not increased their service charges, there has been a general increase in the prices of all products and services. This, he said, was a challenge for Tawafa organizations. “We agree that these companies are doing a noble job, yet they still need to make a reasonable profit.” The Kingdom, he added, has spent SR7 billion on the five-level Jamarat Bridge that has 24 gates, yet people complain about overcrowding on the bridge. The next 13 Haj seasons, added Maymani, need to be given special consideration because they will be in the summer. Talal Dareen, an engineering faculty member who has also been working in a Tawafa organization for years, said there is a need for collaboration between different sectors to implement a strategy that can best serve pilgrims. Transporting all pilgrims between Makkah and Madinah this year, he explained, will require 35,000 bus trips and each bus will need to carry out on average seven trips each.
