MAKKAH, 31 January 2004 — The number of hawkers, selling cooked meals and other foods at Mina, Arafat, and Muzdalifa is on the decline. That is because of the increasing availability of free meals for pilgrims provided by charitable organizations and individual benefactors.
The majority of the food sellers are south Asian. Abdul Kalam Mohammad, a Bangladeshi who has sold cooked rice and meat dishes for years linked the drop in sales to the growing number of free meals offered by various bodies plus the opening of a large number of branches of several restaurant chains in the holy sites, especially in Mina.
Dr. Amin Fatani, secretary-general of the charity providing services to pilgrims, pointed out that this year’s pilgrimage will witness a considerable increase in donations of free meals. He estimated that they will exceed the six million figure. Of this, two million meals are being offered by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd. The International Islamic Relief Organization expects to distribute 400,000 dry and cooked meals among pilgrims.
In the view of Mohammed ibn Aboud Al-Amoudi, a prominent businessman, the growth in donations of free meals is an extension to the free breakfasts provided around the country in Ramadan.
His own Al-Amoudi philanthropic organization was inaugurated yesterday in Arafat by Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed, chairman of the Central Haj Committee. With male and female sections near Arafat, the organization will provide 300,000 free breakfasts and nearly two million lunches to the guests of God.
The two sections contain 25 food counters, 15 in the female section, 10 in the men’s, and there is air-conditioned halls for those who prefer to eat indoors.
