The municipality has also taken steps to ensure the highest
hygiene standards.
“Since the municipality aims to protect the health of
pilgrims from infections, its officials will see that the Haj rite of shaving
is fulfilled in the most hygienic manner,” Makkah Mayor Osama Al-Barr said in a
statement on Saturday.
Most of the shaving facilities are arranged around the
Jamarat Bridge in locations such as Majar Al-Kabsh and at the southern side of
the western incline of the bridge, in addition to the cabins close to the
Al-Hadithah slaughterhouse in Muaysem and other locations.
Director of Environmental Health Muhammad Al-Fotawi said the
municipality has intensified supervision of the shaving locations and made sure
the locations are always clean and the barbers adhere to hygiene regulations.
“The municipality has recruited a number of students from
the College of Health to support its 250 inspectors to monitor hygiene in
Mina,” Al-Fotawi said, adding that the barbers’ work in Mina is limited to the
first days of Eid.
He said the inspectors also undertake awareness activities
with special emphasis on the penal measures for violators of regulations.
The violations include using a blade more than once, shaving
outside the officially designated locations and charging more than SR10 for a
single shave besides practicing the trade without a license, he said.
Al-Fotawi added that the Central Haj Committee headed by
Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal has set up a health committee to ensure the
highest hygiene standards in the holy sites and to guarantee that no contagious
diseases are present there.
