Saudi Gazette report ARAFAT — The delay in Makkah development projects can be attributed to its rugged topographic features and poor infrastructure, said Dr. Osama Al-Bar, Makkah Mayor, according to the Makkah daily. “Makkah does not have a strong infrastructure that can be used to implement projects. For example, the roads are narrow and in some cities they are 100 meters wide. When you want to build a bridge, you will have to make a lot of detours in these narrow roads, which can take a lot of time. Besides, there are mountains that obstruct road projects and this requires demolishing works, which themselves take a long time,” Dr. Al-Bar said. He cited the difficulties contractors faced in demolishing the mountains to implement the fourth ring road in Makkah. Six million tons of debris were removed at the time. Regarding charity works in the Holy Sites, he said some of those who engage in such activities tend to leave a large amount of garbage that becomes an eyesore. He wondered why the distributers of food for charity do not hire extra workers to clean the big amount of trash left from the food and plastic materials they distribute to pilgrims. “No one criticizes charity work. We all love to do it but we need to be organized and orderly so that we don't disturb pilgrims by leaving trash on the main roads. This obstructs the smooth movement of pilgrims. About 80 percent of the trash is the result of disorganized charity work,” he said. Dr. Al-Bar believes that educating pilgrims about respecting the sanctity of the Holy Sites and not throwing trash all over the place is useless because every year new pilgrims come to Makkah with different backgrounds. He revealed the municipality's plans to develop Muzdalifah and allocate shelter places with an area of 12,500 sq. meters. He said one of the philanthropists contributed financially to the works of removing large heaps of waste. The municipality will also build moving walkways for pedestrians that will be covered and safe. A number of international companies, in cooperation with prestigious Saudi universities, have already designed the comprehensive development plans for the Holy Sites.
