JEDDAH, 17 January 2004 — The Haj Ministry has worked out a comprehensive plan to protect pilgrims from possible flash floods during this Haj season, a senior official said.

“We have already identified the areas and pilgrim tents that could be hit by floods and made arrangements to drain rain waters from such areas,” Al-Madinah daily quoted Dr. Sahl Al-Sabban, assistant deputy Haj minister, as saying.

Anti-flood measures are significant as weather forecasters have predicted heavy rains during this Haj season. “A working team has been set up with representatives from the Haj Ministry, the civil defense and the tawafa organizations to deal with rains and floods,” Sabban said. “Every official is aware of what to do at time of rains without waiting for orders,” he added.

He hoped that implementation of the first phase of a drainage system would prevent rain waters from entering tents and flooding streets.

Col. Jameel Arbaeen, director of the civil defense in Makkah, confirmed that a full-fledged plan to counter rains and floods during the Haj was in place. “We have a complete plan and we have started implementing it,” he said, adding that certain streets and roads would be closed in the event of rains and floods. “We have learned from past floods in Makkah how to deal with them,” he said. Warning messages on floods will also be given through mobile phones with the help of Saudi Telecom.

Agreements have been signed with four contractors to remove the aftermath of past flooding from tents in Arafat. “All these tents will be ready for use well in advance of the start of Haj on Jan. 30,” Sabban said. About 60 percent of tents in Arafat, where pilgrims stay throughout the day on Dul Hijjah 9 at the peak of the annual pilgrimage, have been replaced with new ones.

Faithful Throng Holy Mosques

Worshipers, including a large number of pilgrims, thronged the holy mosques in Makkah and Madinah yesterday. In his Juma sermon, Sheikh Saud Al-Shuraim, the imam of the Grand Mosque, urged the faithful to imbibe the spirit of Haj. “Paradise is the reward for a person who performs Haj in the right form,” Sheikh Abdul Bari Al-Thubaity, the imam of the Prophet’s Mosque, said in his sermon quoting a Hadith. Haj is a great opportunity for Muslims to solve their problems, end their divisions and strengthen their unity, he added.

French Pilgrims

Saudi authorities have clarified that some 2,300 French pilgrims did not receive Haj visas because of a delay in presenting their passports at the Saudi Embassy in Paris. “The travel agents, whom the pilgrims had contracted, did not come to Makkah and Madinah to arrange housing for them and thus they failed to present the passports in time at the embassy,” Hatem Qadi, deputy Haj minister, told Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News. He said travel agents should have followed the ministry’s instructions forwarded to them about three months ago.

Mobile Phones

Saudi Telecom is keeping a close watch on the market to track down agents and traders accused of creating a black market for pilgrim mobile phones, Al-Eqtisadiah reported yesterday. The paper said the pre-paid mobile phone chips have been sold to pilgrims at 50 percent more than the actual price. The telecom giant intends to sell 500,000 mobile chips to pilgrims at the rate of SR100 each. About 200,000 chips have been sold in the black market at prices ranging between SR130 and SR150, the paper added.

Iraqi Guests

The Haj Ministry will host 1,000 Iraqi pilgrims this year, according to Haj Minister Iyad Madani. The pilgrims will be selected in coordination with the Iraqi Haj mission, he said. In a related development, 560 pilgrims from India, Pakistan and Burma will perform Haj this year as guests of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Propagation and Guidance.