The Kingdom has recently received more than 1.3 million pilgrims coming from outside the Kingdom and managed to finalize their entry smoothly in a short period.
The total number of pilgrims in the current Haj season reached 1.8 million and if we add with them Haj service providers and security men, the number increased to more than two million in Mina in an area of 3.2 sq. km.
In Arafat, which is called “Haj is Arafat,” the place normally witnesses the largest human annual gathering in the world, located 20 km away from Makkah and occupies an area of 10.4 sq. km. Here we find Mount Arafat, the place where Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) delivered his farewell address declaring the completion of the message of Islam 14 centuries ago.
All these holy sites with limited spaces home more than two million pilgrims every year who perform their rituals easily and comfortably following tremendous efforts undertaken by the Kingdom throughout the year to provide peace and convenience to pilgrims for nearly six days.
The Kingdom never spares efforts or money for providing best services to pilgrims every year. The expansion projects of the Two Holy Mosques and other holy sites, worth billions of riyals, never stopped.
The Kingdom has been exploiting all human energies, including security, health, and scouts cadres, in facilitating Haj for the thousands of pilgrims coming from all over the world who are eager to be in the Grand Mosque.
The security men, members of the National Guard, volunteer groups used to deal with crowds of pilgrims with due humanitarian manner, notably those who need help such as the elderly and children.
We have followed the traffic men who could smoothly run huge numbers of buses (over 16,000) which are ferrying pilgrims between the holy sites and, at the same time, keeping an eye on their security and property.
The staff of the Ministry of Health have also their role who are caring for the health of the pilgrims in the hospitals found in the holy sites since their arrival and until their departure.
Other government agencies, including the Ministries of Commerce, Water, Electricity, and Telecom, are active in providing the best services in this mega occasion.
Following each Haj season, the concerned committees used to hold meetings to assess shortcomings and errors, if any, to rectify them for the best interest of pilgrims who deserve the best services and security until their return to their countries safely.
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Al-Riyadh
