Saudi Arabia and all Muslims in the country are honored to serve the pilgrims who come from all over the world to perform Haj. Since it was founded, Saudi Arabia has exerted maximum efforts to develop and improve the two holy places for the benefit of the pilgrims. The last 20 years has seen a non-stop race between developing the two holy places and the increasing number of Haj and Umrah performers. The race has put a great deal of pressure on the holy places which, due to overcrowding, has sometimes led to the deaths of innocent pilgrims. The last of these unfortunate accidents happened during this year’s Haj and resulted in the deaths of 251 pilgrims. Because of the race between development and the numbers of pilgrims, we are in need of an immediate strategic plan. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd has thus ordered the establishment of the Higher Commission for the Development of Makkah and Madinah. I have a few suggestions concerning what the commission should do.
First: We must change the strategic view of Haj and Umrah completely. The current financial view depends on official spending for Haj and Umrah. We must have a new economic view of Haj and Umrah and invest in providing services, considering this as a source of income and a big job market needing a work force which will reduce unemployment by providing work for unemployed Saudi men.
Second: We must receive the large number of pilgrims gradually. Based on the infrastructural capacity to receive them, pilgrims should be accepted under two conditions: Their financial ability which would curtail the number of pilgrims sleeping on the street during Haj, and the capacity of the infrastructure to cope with the pilgrims.
Third: We must develop all Haj and Umrah stages comprehensively. We must view Haj as a complete operation beginning with the moment the pilgrim decides to perform Haj and ending when he departs from the Kingdom after performing Haj. This obviously includes the entire process, including receiving the visa from Saudi embassies and consulates abroad, providing air transport on Saudia which is competitive in price with other airlines, increasing awareness of Haj and Umrah during flights by showing videos in all languages and expanding the airports in Jeddah and Madinah to receive pilgrims.
Fourth: We must make use of advanced technology in the two holy places. Empty spaces in Mina could be used to build four levels to hold as many pilgrims as possible. If the existing empty spaces were used, the capacity would be increased by two million pilgrims. Fifty percent of pilgrims walk so they could use conveyor belts or underground trains to travel easily between areas.
Fifth: We must promote tourism in Jeddah. The city contains a number things that pilgrims would like to visit after Haj. This would obviously be good for the economy of Jeddah.
Sixth: All government branches must participate in the strategic planning. It should cover every aspect and the team should include: legal departments, social departments, security departments, health departments, food sectors, housing and hotel sectors, water, electricity and municipal sectors, finance and commerce ministries, banks, businessmen and investors, communication and transportation agencies and universities.
