MAKKAH — The sprawling tent city of Mina is well equipped to receive Hajj pilgrims, who started streaming to the valley, 5 km east of the Makkah Grand Mosque, from Sunday evening. Mina's City of Tents is one of the biggest projects executed by the Saudi government and serves pilgrims during the Hajj season to ensure their comfort and security. The tents are shaped in line with Islamic norms and designed to facilitate easy storage and installation. Mina is the largest tent city in the world, extending over 2.5 million square meters with a capacity of about 2.6 million pilgrims. The tents are either eight square meters in size, six by eight meters or 12 by eight meters. Fire extinguishers and hoses can typically be found every 100 meters. The tents are linked to each other via paved, illuminated and signposted corridors. Each group of tents is surrounded by metal fences for security, with main gates and emergency exits. All the facilities and services are well in place in these tents to make available more comfortable and luxurious stay for the pilgrims. The guests of God can enjoy performing the rituals in an atmosphere of tranquility and spirituality. The government and private sectors concerned with serving pilgrims continue their efforts in accordance with operational plans, taking into account the field administrative and technical aspects. This is in order to provide everything that the pilgrim needs, in order to achieve the directives of the wise leadership to upgrade the level of services provided to the pilgrims. The Makkah Mayoralty has equipped 28 service centers in the Holy Sites according to geographical distribution, and has been provided with equipment, mechanisms and manpower. The Tawafa organizations have completed their preparations by equipping their field service centers, in preparation for transporting the guests of God and providing them with the best and finest services, and modern camps that have been equipped with international specifications. The tents are characterized by light and heat insulation, fire resistance, and ultraviolet radiation protection. Each tent is connected to a special cooling system. It also has security and safety means for electrical installations and support services, in addition to providing health services, the quality of meals, and the way they are presented to pilgrims, in order to improve the system of services provided to the guests of God.
