JEDDAH, 10 December 2006 — The first two phases of the SR4.2-billion Jamrat project in Mina have been completed and will be handed over to the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs tomorrow by the Saudi Binladin Group, informed sources said.
The handover comes two weeks ahead of the Haj, which begins tentatively on Dec. 29. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from different parts of the world have already arrived in Makkah for the annual event. Members of the Central Haj Committee will visit tomorrow the Jamrat bridge project, which is designed to facilitate the stoning ritual without stampedes that have killed hundreds of pilgrims in the past.
Habeeb Zainul Abideen, deputy minister of municipal and rural affairs, said the project, which was initiated by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, would bring about qualitative changes to the Jamrat area.
Unlike in the past, pilgrims will have to follow separate routes to reach the ground and first floors. And they will not be allowed to use the same route on their way back to tents. Electronic signboards will direct them to alternative routes.
The new levels have an average width of 70 meters, an engineer working for the project said, adding that the area near the pillars has a width of 80 meters. “We have also expanded the width of pillars to 30 meters to help a large number of pilgrims perform the stoning ritual at one time,” he said.
The second and third levels of the project will be ready next year, said the engineer who requested anonymity. Work on the third phase of the project will begin soon after the Haj, he added.
Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, director of Haj Affairs at the Interior Ministry, said a special plan has been worked out to allow 1.25 million pilgrims complete the stoning ritual in five hours. He said a 9,000-man special force would be deployed in Mina to control the movement of pilgrims to Jamrat.
Al-Turki said the security forces will take control of all streets leading to Jamrat in order to organize the movement of pilgrims.
