The departments started their special Haj services under the supervision of Madinah Gov. Prince Abdul Aziz bin Majed early October when the Haj season commenced and will continue until the last pilgrim leaves Madinah in the last week of November, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday.
Major services are offered by the departments of health, customs, Guides Establishment and the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention Vice besides many others.
The total number of pilgrims expected to visit Madinah this Haj season was estimated at between 2.5 million and three million. Department heads are meeting daily to review services and remove obstacles in the implementation of pilgrim service plans.
Health centers are operating round the clock in most of the locations in the city. Necessary staff, medicines and other medical accessories have been supplied to all health centers in the province.
Traffic officials are striving their best to keep the roads from snarls.
The customs' counters at Prince Muhammad International Airport have beefed up operations to cope with the huge number of departing pilgrims every day.
Bags and baggage are examined quickly with the help of scanner machines. A passenger is subjected to physical checking or his baggage checked manually only in suspicious situations.
The Guides Establishment is also fully geared to receive and bid farewell to pilgrims with sufficient manpower.
More than 250 members and volunteers of the Scouts Society are also contributing largely in serving pilgrims in various ways. The volunteers assisting scouts have been trained in first aid techniques, fire fighting, rescue operations, field survey and guidance.
The Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowment, Call and Guidance has organized a number of awareness campaigns on the correct forms of performing religious rites. Its scholars are also receiving pilgrims who want to clarify doubts on issues related to religion. It is also distributing tapes and booklets.
The ministry also supervises the maintenance, cleaning and operation of various historic mosques pilgrims visit. All these mosques were refurbished with new carpets, furnishings, air-conditioners and lighting.
The Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has appointed 200 workers apart from interpreters who have been recruited from universities in order to communicate effectively with pilgrims coming from different countries.
