Saudi Arabia's Pilgrimage Enlightenment Radio (PER) will launch its seasonal pilgrimage broadcasting on Monday, the first day of Dhul Qa da, and will continue until the end of the month of Dhul Hijjah 1425. The programs will be broadcast in 10 languages Arabic, English, French, Persian, Turkish, Hawsa, Indonesian, Urdu, Bengali and Pashtu. The programs will be aired 24 hours a day. Bengali and Pashto have been added for the first time this year in keeping with the efforts of Ministry of Culture and Information to broaden its base of listeners, officials said. PER will transmit its programs on two medium waves on 594 kilohertz for the listeners in Makkah, the pilgrimage sites and Jeddah. The other is on 1017 kilohertz for its listeners in Madinah and its vicinity. It also transmits on two FM waves on 94 megahertz for the entire area covering the Holy Sites and on 101 megahertz for Mina and its vicinity. The Pilgrimage Enlightenment Radio (PER) will have an initial transmission time of 18 hours daily but will be extended to 24 hours a day at the start of the month Dhul Hijjah. Aside from the Ministry of Information and Culture, at least seven other agencies are taking part in producing PER programs the Ministry of Pilgrimage, the Ministry of Water and Electricity, the General Presidency of Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques and the Nobel Prophet s Mosque, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Pilgrimage Research, the Saudi Red Crescent Society, the General Motorcars Syndicate, the Saudi Boy Scouts Society and other subscribers. The multiparty contribution is in addition to the religious and enlightenment programs produced by the Ministry of Culture and Information and the live coverage of the five-day pilgrimage such as the noon and late afternoon prayers at the Namirah Mosque, the Eid prayer from the Holy Mosque and the Tashreeq days in Mina. The Ministry of Culture and Information will continue airing its own live program "With You on Air" which provides live coverage of various pilgrimage activities and the pilgrims themselves as well as other topics like hygiene, safety measures and the traffic situations. Interviews will be made with specialists on related issues and the pilgrims themselves. The programs will be enlivened with contests that offer cash prizes earmarked by the Ministry of Culture and Information. Added to these activities are news bulletins and news briefs, the weather and temperature in the two holy cities and the holy sites to be broadcast night and day. The increase in the daily transmission time from the initial 18 hours to 24 hours reflects the deep concerns of the Minister of Culture and Information, Dr. Fouad Al-Farsi, and Prince Turki bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, the deputy minister. The Pilgrimage Enlightenment Radio seeks to provide the pilgrims with a concentrated dose of enlightenment in the fields of religion, health, sanitation, environment and security, aside from traffic movements, safety, weather condition and other pieces of information that would benefit the pilgrims.
