Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs Prince Mansour bin Miteb will inspect the ministry’s preparations for the Haj season on Saturday to ensure that new projects in Makkah and the other holy places are ready to host pilgrims.

He will also inspect projects regarding public health, food safety and environmental reforms.

He will inaugurate several new projects during the tour, which the ministry undertook prior to the Haj season for this year. One such major project is the connection of the third floor of Jamrat (stone-throwing area) between Ash Shu’aibeen and Al-Mu’aisim, which cost SR570 million. The project involves many tunnels, roads, and bridges through King Khalid Road.

The tunnel network of the project is the largest among Makkah’s tunnels and is 16 meters wide. Pilgrim capacity is expected to increase by 20 percent.

The minister will also inspect the connection project between the Al-Aziziah area and the fourth floor of Jamrat, in addition to the expansion of the western yard, which will be opened for the first time this year. The expanded area spans more than 40,000 square meters and cost SR50 million to construct.

The camel and cow slaughterhouse was also transferred to the Al-Mu’aisim area, where a two-lane, 5 km highway has been built at a cost of SR102 million.

Other projects included the installation of slaughtering lines and equipment at a cost of SR155 million. This is in addition to the buildings and service facilities of the projects, which cost a total of SR133 million.

The minister will also inspect the final preparations of the second phase of a project to build an additional 36,000 toilets in the immediate areas around the holy sites, in addition to 22,000 new toilets at Mina, Muzdalifah and Arafat.