Owners of 5,200 buildings in this Holy City have been granted permits to accommodate the expected 1.2 million pilgrims this year. The permits were awarded by a higher committee consisting of senior officials from the governorate, municipal corporation, police, Civil Defense, Ministries of Haj, Health Affairs and Water and Electricity, Osama Fadhl Al-Bar, Mayor of Makkah and member of the Central Haj Committee, said on Monday. New districts of Makkah have been included for accommodating the pilgrims. These are Khalidiyah, Al-Rusaifah, Shoqiya and Al-Naseem. Arrangements have been made to transport the pilgrims to enable them to offer five obligatory prayers, he said. The first phase of the project of Fourth Ring Road to connect Muzdalifa, and passing from Al-Batah Qureysh, will have a bridge for intersection over Leith Expressway then connecting Makkah Expressway before Shumaysi, he said. The estimated cost of this project is SR3 billion. It will have other flyovers having four track road. This Ring Road will considerably reduce the traffic on Third Ring Road and Makkah Expressway thus easing down the traffic connecting the holy sites. The Mayor said on the recommendations of the Central Haj Committee, the Ministry of Haj have appointed 38,000 persons for security for the pilgrims in Makkah and the holy sites. This year no one – Saudis and expatriates – will be allowed to perform Haj without prior permission from the Passports Department. All routes connecting Makkah will be fully monitored, Al-Bar said. Regarding burial of residents in Jannatul Maala (Maala Graveyard), he said there was no restriction on it, provided permission is granted by the municipal authorities. The Municipal Corporation had opened another graveyard within the limits of Haram having a capacity of 20,000 graves, he said. – SG __
