MAKKAH — Emir of Makkah Prince Khaled Al-Faisal has asked 73 ministries and government departments not directly connected to Haj services to vacate their premises and transfer outside the Holy Sites. The emir, who is also an adviser to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, chaired a meeting of the Central Haj Committee (CHC) in Makkah on Sunday. The transfer of the ministries' premises will free up about a million square meters that will be used to provide more accommodation facilities to pilgrims in the Holy Sites. Prince Khaled asked the government departments to hand over their premises to the Haj Ministry. Under the emir's instructions, 25 ministries and government departments will vacate 270 sites occupying 191,718 sq. meters in Mina that will then be used to build more tents for pilgrims. A total of 35 ministries and government departments will vacate their 121 offices in Arafat, freeing up 576,477 sq. meters, while another 13 will leave their 27 offices in Muzdalifah and allow 177,436 sq. meters to be used for accommodating pilgrims. A committee headed by the governorate will supervise the transfer of the ministries and the handover of the vacated areas to be used for the construction of more tents in the Holy Sites. The committee comprises representatives from the Haj and finance ministries in addition to the Control and Investigation Board (CIB) and the Makkah Municipality. The CHC also heard a report about the current Umrah season that began on Nov. 23 and will continue until the end of Ramadan. According to the report, more than 4.4 million Umrah visas were issued so far. It said about 2.5 million pilgrims will be arriving via King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, 816,111 through Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah and 76,378 via Yanbu Airport. According to the report, about 1.3 million pilgrims will be arriving by land.
