Faisal, emir of Makkah Province, adviser to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and chairman of the Haj Central Committee, received a report from the Adviser to the Emir of Makkah and Supervisor General of the Agency for Development Dr. Hisham Al-Faleh. The report dealt with the committee's work in combating negative phenomena during last Ramadan, Saudi Press Agency reported. According to a statement issued by the Public Relations Administration in the governorate, the report contains statistics on the arrested violators of (government) directives. The report shows that over 189 beggars of various nationalities were apprehended in the courtyards of the Grand Mosque in Makkah during the holy month of Ramadan. It also mentions that a large number of sellers violated the regulations and peddled in cart. And 1,354 were arrested. The violators included Saudis and people of other nationalities. The committee dealt with many observations in coordination with the pertinent authorities. It confiscated 10,000 jerry cans and bottles of fake Zamzam water; and 122,000 items including various commodities that were being sold by hawkers and others on the street pavement. The committee sent 35 reports on water leakages on roads and streets used by Umrah pilgrims to the authorities concerned. The committee solved the problems facing 800 lost Umrah pilgrims. It prevented many people who wanted to distribute meals as charity using illegal methods. They were told to go to the places specially allocated for distributing charities. The committee contributed to preventing cleaners from begging from Umrah pilgrims and worshipers. This was achieved through coordination with the authorities in charge of these workers so that they are supervised closely. Apart from this, the committee got rid of psychiatric cases sitting on the roads and streets leading to the Grand Mosque. In another development, over 33.6 million Umrah pilgrims and worshipers were transported by 2 million vehicles to and from the Grand Mosque in Makkah during Ramadan. This represented an increase of 26 percent in the number of passengers compared to Ramadan last year. A press release issued by the Public Relations and Information Administration in the governorate showed a noticeable increase in the number of passengers in 2016 (1437H) compared to 2015 (1436H) during the same period (the holy month of Ramadan). In Ramadan of 2016 (1437H), the number of passengers transported including Umrah pilgrims and worshipers reached 33.6 million, and were transported by 2 million vehicles. Meanwhile, in Ramadan of 2015 (1436H), the number of vehicles totaled 1.7 million and the number of passengers exceeded 26 million. This represented an increase of 21 percent in the number of vehicles in 2016 compared to 2015 and a rise of 26 percent in the number of passengers in 2016 compared to 2015. The press release said: "The transport plan that was approved by Prince Khaled Al-Faisal and it resulted in achieving a collective effort of the government sectors participating in carrying out the plan. It resulted in the success of all its strategies in transporting passengers to and from the Grand Mosque during Ramadan." The Public Relations and Information Administration in the governorate said that over 8 million passengers were transported from Ajyad Al-Masafi by 945,000 vehicles. Over 4 million Umrah pilgrims and visitors were transported from the courtyard of Bab Ali (Ali Gate) aboard 671,000 vehicles, and 500,000 vehicles transported 2 million passengers from King Abdulaziz Gate station. As to Jarwal Station, 206,000 vehicles transported over one million Umrah pilgrims and visitors. Over 40,000 passengers were transported from Jabal Al-Kaabah Station, 522,000 passengers from Ajyad Station, and 13 million passengers from Shi'b Amer Station. Finally, over one million passengers were transported from Ree' Bakhsh Station.
