JEDDAH, 24 October 2006 — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah inspected the progress of work on the Jamrat expansion project in Mina on Sunday night and urged officials to carry out the project in a foolproof manner.
“The king urged officials in charge of the project to exert greater effort to carry out the work in the best manner in order to help the guests of God perform their religious duties in ease and comfort,” the Saudi Press Agency reported. Haj will tentatively begin on Dec. 29 with pilgrims beginning to arrive a month prior to the annual event.
King Abdullah was briefed on the various phases of the project, which is estimated to cost SR4.2 billion ($1.12 billion), by Habeeb Zainul Abideen, deputy minister of municipal and rural affairs and Bakr Binladin, chairman of Saudi Binladin Group.
The first phase, which will be completed this year, includes the first floor, ground floor and two tunnels.
“Next year, we’ll complete another floor of the bridge,” Zainul Abideen said, adding that the new Jamrat bridge will have four floors. Once the project is completed it can hold nearly five million pilgrims at a time.
“The primary objective of the project is to help facilitate the stoning ritual at Mina without stampedes and other accidents,” the minister said. He described the new high-tech Jamrat bridge as one of the largest projects in the world. “About 10,000 employees are working daily on this project and they use more than 2,000 equipment,” he said.
He said the king has allocated SR250 million for flood drainage projects in Mina.
King Abdullah was accompanied by Prince Miteb, minister of public works and housing and chairman of the Higher Authority for the Development of Makkah and Madinah, Prince Muqrin, chief of intelligence, other princes and senior officials.
The first phase will be completed by the beginning of December ahead of the Haj season. “We have already completed 70 percent of the first phase. God willing, the remaining part will be ready within the next two months,” the minister said.
King Abdullah ordered the project as part of efforts to prevent stampedes and crowding in the Jamrat area. In the past, hundreds of pilgrims have died performing the stoning ritual.
Two underpasses have been completed as part of the project. They will be used for vehicle movement. About 80 percent of the basement, which will be used for collecting stones, disposing wastes and parking ambulances, is also ready.
The Saudi Binladin Group, which won the contract last year, has set up a huge factory in Bahra on an area of 450,000 square meters to supply concrete blocks required for the project. The new facility will have two helipads for speedy evacuation of casualties in case of accidents.
The new structure will have 10 entrances and 12 exits distributed over the four levels plus the ground floor to accommodate pilgrims coming from different directions. Pilgrims coming from the east of Mina, who account for the bulk of the crowd, will use the ground and first floor.
The second level will be used mainly by pilgrims coming from the direction of Makkah, the third level by those coming from the north of Mina and new pilgrim camps and the fourth level by pilgrims coming from the south of Makkah via King Abdul Aziz Road.
