Meat of one million sheep to be distributed

Coupons for nearly one million sacrificial animals have been sold among pilgrims during this Haj season under the sacrificial meat utilization project, said Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Ali, president of the Islamic Development Bank, which supervises the project.
He said 416,357 pilgrims have so far bought the coupons distributed by the IDB to help them carry out various forms of sacrifices. “We have also helped pilgrims to sacrifice 443 cows and camels,” the IDB chief said. The price for a sacrificial sheep this year is SR 450, which is equivalent to $120 or 96 Euros.
“The new slaughtering houses in Muaisem, which were established at a cost of SR 2 billion, would enable the project to make use of the meat of all sacrificial animals, by distributing them among the poor in Makkah and charitable societies across the Kingdom. A substantial portion of it will be sent to the poor in 27 countries.
The project intends to utilize meat of one million heads of sheep and 10,000 cows and camels during this Haj season. According to Dr. Ali, Syrian refugees in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon will also receive the meat.
“This is a nonprofit Islamic service project. The bank does not receive any money for this work,” the president said. He urged pilgrims to make use of the bank’s services and keep away from sacrificing animals in a haphazard manner.