JEDDAH, 8 July 2007 — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has ordered for air conditioning to be fitted in the entire Grand Mosque in Makkah for the benefit of pilgrims and worshippers, said Sheikh Saleh Al-Hosain, head of the Presidency for the Two Holy Mosques Affairs.
Al-Hosain said the project would be carried out within a short period of time without affecting regular prayers and rituals such as tawaf (circumambulation of the Holy Kaaba) and saee (the walk between mounts Safa and Marwa). He also thanked the king for his gesture. Currently, air conditioning is only available in that part of the Haram which was built during the reign of King Fahd.
Plans have also been made to increase the mosque’s capacity by 35 percent to accommodate the growing numbers of pilgrims and worshippers, especially during the peak Haj and Umrah seasons. According to one source, the new expansion project will be completed by 2020.
At least 10 million Muslims including Saudis, expatriate workers and foreign pilgrims visit the Grand Mosque in Makkah each year to perform Haj and Umrah and attend regular and special prayers. During the past years, the government has already spent more than SR70 billion on expanding the Two Holy Mosques.
The new master plan for Makkah’s central region aims at accommodating three million residents and eight million pilgrims. In 2005, as part of efforts to develop the central region, King Abdullah launched six major projects, including the SR12 billion Jabal Omar Residential Towers. The Jabal Omar project includes five star hotels, commercial centers and prayer facilities.
Abdul Rahman Faqeeh, chairman of Makkah Construction Company, described Jabal Omar as one of the largest real estate projects in the Arab world, covering an area of 32,000 square meters. “The project will change the face of Makkah,” he said, adding that it will also provide prayer area for more than 200,000 worshippers.
