MINA, 12 January 2006 — Eight million free meals will be distributed by the end of Haj tomorrow, according to Haj Committee estimates. Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed, president of the committee, said yesterday that the current total of free meals distributed in Arafat, Muzdalifah and Mina so far is six million.
According to the Haj Committee, 70 percent of the meals have consisted of was dry food while the rest was cooked. Most of the food was distributed in mobile cars and cooling trucks at various distribution points.
Bandar Al-Harbi, the Saudi manager of the InterContinental Hotels Group, said that many Tawafa agencies and philanthropists sign contracts with hotels each year to provide free meals for pilgrims in holy sites.
This year’s Haj included a new branch of Mohammad Al-Amoudi Charity Institute at the holy sites, which was inaugurated by Prince Abdul Majeed right before the start of Haj.
Amoudi, the Ethiopian-born real estate entrepreneur and one of the world’s richest men, told Arab News that the new branch of his charity, built on 5,000 square meters at a cost of SR55 million, is considered the largest in the Kingdom. This center alone distributed half of the six million meals given out so far this Haj. More than 2,000 people have been working around the clock distributing and preparing the food. Amoudi said he wished that more Saudi businessmen would participate in charity works.
