Makkah: The holy sites are safe from floods because of the number of dams preventing water from flowing into the valley beds, according to commanders of the Civil Defense, speaking at discussion panel organized recently by Okaz/ Saudi Gazette in Makkah. The Civil Defense has also prepared a series of shelters at the holy sites that can accommodate up to 40,000 pilgrims. Other facilities, including wedding halls, schools, Umm Al-Qura University's premises and youth hostels can shelter millions of pilgrims if needed during an emergency. Brigadier Jameel Arabaini, Director of the Civil Defense in Makkah, said the administration has also given special attention to the safety of the residential buildings and units housing pilgrims in Makkah. In Makkah alone there are 6,192 residential buildings allocated for pilgrims' housing. Safety inspection teams assigned by the administration have closed and sealed off unsafe residential buildings.He said the inspection teams have so far evacuated 7 percent of the total number of pilgrims housed in these unsafe buildings. These buildings have now been removed from the approved list of accommodation for pilgrims. Apart from this, the Civil Defense has introduced for the first time a Global Broadcast System (GBS) which will contain a high volume of information and intelligence on the weather and security and safety issues. Some of the advantages of the system include being able to follow the movement of 40 rescue and firefighting teams to accident sites, and determining the location of callers. Arabaini said the GBS system also allows emergency teams to see maps of areas, safety systems and exits where fires have started. Colonel Saleh Al-Ayed, Director of Public Relations and Media at the General Directorate, said an awareness campaign was introduced for this year's Haj, which included a door-to-door enlightenment project. He added that many pilgrims were also targeted in their country of origin, in coordination with the Foreign Ministry through embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions.
