MAKKAH, 15 November 2007 — The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs is racing against time to complete its Haj projects, including those at Jamrat and Mina, before this year’s Haj season kicks off.
The most important project is the third phase of the Al-Jamrat Bridge, which includes the building of a third floor on the Jamrat Bridge and expanding the lower floors.
Ministry officials say that the completion of the third phase would allow the bridge to hold 360,000 pilgrims per hour. The second floor would be set aside for pilgrims coming from Makkah, and the northern and southern inclines would enable pilgrims to enter directly on to the bridge without crossing the courtyard.
The third phase also includes newly constructed roads that would take pilgrims to the bridge and reduce crowds on other roads. The entrances for these roads would be at their beginning. New tunnels would also facilitate easy access of buses to the foot of the bridge. The third floor is also expected to make the process of stone throwing less difficult for the sick and the aged.
A fourth phase of the bridge is scheduled to be completed in 2009, which would result in each floor having the capacity to house 125,000 people an hour.
According to officials of the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, the bridge’s present foundation is strong enough to carry eight floors and accommodate up to 10 million pilgrims annually. While the cost of the Jamrat expansion has exceeded SR4 billion, developmental projects worth more than SR14 billion have been carried out at Mina over the past 10 years.
The new projects, which have been designed for the comfort and safety of pilgrims, include the construction of a SR385 million intersection connecting King Street and Abdullah Khayyat Street, a Mina drainage project to collect rain and flashflood waters in several small dams in the Moaysem mountains at a cost SR262 million, and another drainage project on the Makkah Holy Sites Road at a cost of SR135 million.
Municipal projects for the year also include a SR70 million fire-fighting network at Muzdalifah, which involves installing 600 fire hydrants with 120-meter long hoses. It also includes the construction of a 50,000 cubic meter water reservoir on the top of Muzdalifah hill. Another project on the point of completion is a kerosene-stove supply scheme to all kitchens operating in the holy sites.
