JEDDAH, 7 February — The Saudi Electricity Company in the Western Province has set out a plan to meet the increased power demand during the Haj season. This was announced here yesterday by Dr. Bakr Kheshaim, SEC's director general in the region.
In a press statement, he said the company had taken steps to provide "excellent services with high reliability." He added that the company had bolstered its generators in Makkah, Madinah and the holy sites of Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifa.
"We have also completed maintenance work on power plants as well as the distribution network," Kheshaim said. There are 34 sub-stations in Makkah and 14 in Madinah.
The expanded networks will supply the electricity to new projects like the fourth phase of the pilgrims quarters and tents as well as a number of government installations, he added.
Kheshaim said the company was working on a new transformer in Mina with a capacity of 120 megavolt ampere to boost energy supply in the holy sites further. He added that it would be ready before the Haj, which is scheduled to start on March 3.
The director general said the SEC had established and upgraded 97 distribution stations in the region. "These facilities will be utilized to supply electricity to new Haj projects including the fourth phase of the fireproof tents in Mina," he pointed out. In Madinah also, he said, new projects have been built to strengthen power supply.
"Representatives of our company have joined the committee to inspect pilgrim housing in Makkah and Madinah. They examined electricity extensions and safety conditions at tents in Arafat as well. We also constantly follow up power supply to the Two Holy Mosques in coordination with the distribution centers in Makkah and Madinah and the Bin Laden Group," the director general said.
Kheshaim said his company had deployed 956 employees in Makkah, Madinah and holy sites to implement the Haj plan. The team will start receiving applications for new connections as well as maintenance requests at the holy sites from Feb. 10.
Abdul Aziz Ghazzawi adds: The Central Haj Committee held a meeting in Makkah yesterday and reviewed the Saudi Telecommunications Company's Haj preparations. Abdul Rahman Al-Oqala, acting secretary of the committee, said the STC has readied more than 9,000 public phones in the service of pilgrims. The company has also operated 188 international call cabins with a total capacity of 2,600 lines.
Referring to the services of the Passports Department, he said the department had deployed adequate number of officers to provide immigration services to pilgrims at 38 counters at various entry points.
