Hijjah 13, 1431 / Nov. 19, 2010, SPA -- Abdullah bin Ahmed Zainal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, today highlighted his ministry's achievements during Hajj, noting that the plan put to provide foodstuffs and other consumable goods and monitor their distribution and validity in cooperation with other relevant authorities was successful. In a statement to SPA, Zainal said some 167 personnel from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry participated in the control of foodstuffs, fuel stations, tire shops and jewelry shops. He said the Ministry issued 629 foodstuffs moving shops in Makkah, Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah, noting that 1700 vehicles were permitted to serve these facilities. Pilgrims and others in the areas consumed 55.6 million pieces of bread, an increase of 12.4 % from last year, he said, adding that his men executed 3095 inspection visits to foodstuff shops in Mina, Muzdalifah and Arafat. He disclosed that a total of 69600 goods were confiscated and destroyed for disqualification, including 1608 food meals. After having inspected some 5370 commercial shops and 1561 jewelry shops in the cities of Makkah, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah, Taif and Jeddah, the Ministry's inspectors found that some 3,119,380 commercial items were invalid and 87 jewelry violating the regulations, Zainal said. The number of fuel stations inspected along the express road between Makkah and Madinah amounted to 380 with 233 pumps found disqualified while the number of tire shops visited in the same area reached 503 with 808 tires found invalid.
