Early allocation of Mina tents to ease Haj

Tents in Mina will be allocated to Tawafa organizations and domestic pilgrim agencies several days before the beginning of Haj this year, Haj Minister Bandar Hajjar said on Sunday.
“The pilgrim agencies will receive the tents well in advance this year,” he told reporters. “The delay in handing over tents in the past was caused by ongoing development projects,” he added.
Hajjar said the deployment of special forces would put an end to the squatting of pilgrims in public places during the Haj season, especially near the Jamrat in Mina. “The number of such squatters at the Grand Mosque has reduced considerably.”
He said the ministry is now in the process of setting up women’s units at its offices in Makkah, Madinah and Jeddah. “Women officials at Tawafa organizations are doing a great job in the service of the guests of God,” the minister said.
He said the government is studying the possibility of building an integrated pilgrim city in Makkah similar to the plan approved for visitors of the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah that was announced a month ago.
He said the first phase of building 36,000 sanitation facilities (toilets and ablution facilities) at the holy sites has been completed.