Officials have been ordered to speed up development projects at the Holy Sites by Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, the Emir of Makkah and Chairman of the Commission for the Development of Makkah and the Holy Shrines. Prince Khaled made the comments while chairing the Commission's meeting in Jeddah on Wednesday. He said the country's leadership was focusing a great deal of attention on these projects, which is aimed at providing the best services to Haj and Umrah pilgrims. He also discussed the commission's draft law and a report on the progress made in the Al-Rasifa residential project in Makkah and other administrative and organizational issues. Muhammad Ali Abdani, Assistant Undersecretary at the Ministry of Finance for Financial Affairs, who is also a Commission member, said the fundamental task of the body is to accelerate the implementation of the development projects in Makkah and at the Holy Sites. Also present at the meeting were Dr. Osama Al-Baz, the Mayor of Makkah; Abdul Aziz Al-Khudairi, Undersecretary at the Makkah Emirate; Dr. Sami Barhamain, Undersecretary for Development of Makkah and the Holy Sites; Dr. Suhail Al-Saban, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Haj for Transportation and Projects; and Muhammad Al-Abdani, Assistant Undersecretary for Financial Affairs. The Commission is a body that was formed recently by a royal decree to concentrate solely on developments in Makkah. A similar body has been set up to deal with Madina's development and is headed by Madina Emir Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Majed. The projects now under way in both cities include multibillion riyal rail and road construction.
