JEDDAH, 11 November 2004 — Crown Prince Abdullah yesterday inspected the plan for the new Jamrat bridge expansion project in Mina designed to serve four million pilgrims. The plan was prepared by the Municipal and Rural Affairs Ministry in association with King Fahd Haj Research Institute.
Dr. Habib Mustafa Zainul Abideen, deputy minister of municipal and rural affairs, briefed the crown prince on the project aimed at facilitating the stoning ritual during Haj, the Saudi Press Agency reported. It will increase the capacity of the Jamrat site to 500,000 pilgrims per hour.
The official agency did not say when the project would start, but the deputy minister had said in a previous statement that it would start in February after this Haj season. “The ministry has completed studies on the project’s architectural designs and it will be implemented in four phases within five years,” he said.
