MINA — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has ordered the establishment of a committee comprising the Haj Ministry and other Haj service-providing departments to formulate a comprehensive strategy to serve the ministry's goals and objectives during the next 25 years, Haj Minister Dr. Bandar Al-Hajjar said here, Wednesday. The strategy, the minister told the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), will take into account the steady increase in the number of the Haj and Umrah pilgrims, their movement and stay in the Kingdom within the concept of the integrated management of the Haj and Umrah rituals. He revealed that the ministry has set up a scientific team to lay down the blueprint for this study and added that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Haj Research Center will supervise the study. “The study will be reviewed by a number of specialized bodies after all the administrative and financial procedures have been completed,” he said. Hajjar said the ministry has a program for control and follow up which has succeeded in closely monitoring the pilgrims in all the holy sites. “Under this program, the Tawafa establishments, the Haj service-providing companies for the domestic pilgrims and the providers of the support services including accommodation, transport and food have all been closely watched,” Al-Hajjar said. The minister recalled that many gigantic development projects have been implemented in Makkah, Madinah and the holy sites to enable the pilgrims perform their Haj rites in ease and comfort. “Among others, these projects included the expansion of the Two Holy Mosques in Makkah and Madinah, construction of a comprehensive network of roads, tunnels and bridges, provision of water, expansion of the Jamarat bridge, the Mashair train, public transport project and the expansion of mataf (circumambulation of the Kaaba area). Hajjar also mentioned establishment of a Haj terminal in Madinah which is four-km away form the Prophet's Mosque and 1 km away from Qiba mosque. He said the terminal will have an area of 1.6 million sq. meters and will include offices for all the government departments and the private sector establishments involved in the Haj services in addition to travel and tourist agencies and Haj companies for domestic pilgrims. “The city will include buildings to accommodate pilgrims and visitors, a hospital and a Haj museum. This terminal will ease congestion in the central area around the Prophet's Mosque,” the minister said. As of now, the minister said, there were no plans to increase the number of domestic Haj service companies. The current licensed number of pilgrims allotted for these companies is 370,000 while the areas specified for them in Mina cannot accommodate more than 210,000. “The companies will only be increased when the intake capacity of the holy sites has been increased,” he said.
