Work on a giant project for expanding the areas surrounding the Holy Haram in Makkah will start shortly in order to accommodate millions of pilgrims who come from around the world to perform Hajj and Umrah. An announcement on the project is likely to be made in the last 10 days of Ramadan. The project includes expansion of the mosque's northern courtyard by 1.2 million square meters, Al-Watan Arabic daily reported, adding that billions of riyals have been allocated for the project. The new expansion comes on the heels of a multibillion-riyal Jabal Omar residential tower project on the western side of the mosque. Six designs have been prepared by international companies for the project, which is to cover the area between the mosque and the second ring road to the north, Masjidul Haram Street to the east and Jabal Al-Kaaba Street to the west. The project also aims at providing infrastructure facilities required for security and services. --MORE 1159 Local Time 0859 GMT
