Pilgrims to stand in Arafat today 

Badea Abu Al-Naja & Hamid Al-Sulami | Arab News  

Sunday,9 Dhul Hijja, 1429 - December 7, 2008

MINA:

Millions of Muslim pilgrims spent the first day of this year’s Haj (Yaum Al-Tarwiyah) in prayers and devotion while security forces and other Saudi government agencies were striving to guarantee a safe and peaceful stay for them in Mina.

The pilgrims are expected to converge today on Mount Arafat, about 15 km east of Makkah, at the climax of this year’s Haj after spending a night of meditation and introspection in the tent city of Mina yesterday.

Chanting “Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik” (here I am answering your call, O God), pilgrims wearing white robes walked or boarded buses to Mina yesterday at the start of the annual pilgrimage, the largest gathering of Muslims in the world.

“The passage of pilgrims from the Grand Mosque to Mina, which began at dawn, was completed smoothly without any untoward incidents in the afternoon,” said Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, who is also the chairman of the Central Haj Committee, at a press conference yesterday.

Prince Khaled later congratulated all departments and agencies for successfully implementing the Haj plan and had a special word of praise for citizens who cooperated in making the “No permit, no Haj” project work.

The prince revealed that he too was carrying a permit as the ambit of the regulations covered all.

“This year the number of pilgrims coming from foreign countries broke all previous records,” Interior Minister Prince Naif, who is also the chairman of the Supreme Haj Committee, said in a cable to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, on the occasion of the completion of the arrival of foreign pilgrims for Haj yesterday.

A total of 1,729,841 pilgrims from 178 countries entered the Kingdom through various land, sea and air entry points. They are 939,221 men, accounting for 54.3 percent of the total pilgrims from abroad, and 790,620 women, 45.7 percent, Prince Naif said. “While 1,575,645 pilgrims flew in by air, 131,353 came by road and 22,843 by sea,” the minister said.

Health Minister Dr. Hamad Al-Manie inspected the health facilities at Arafat to make sure that all arrangements to take care of the millions converging in Arafat today were in place. Three hospitals — Jabal Al-Rahmah, Namirah, and Arafat General — have been built at Arafat with a total capacity for 671 beds.

“The hospitals have intensive care units, X-ray machines and pharmacies, and will provide specialized treatments for diseases of heart, bones, thorax, abdomen and ENT,” Al-Manie said in a press statement after an inspection tour yesterday.

Al-Manie said Arafat would also have 46 medical centers in addition to 65 medical teams. “The medical teams for Arafat have been selected with care for specialized field work, as they will have to work under pressure. While 12 teams work around the Arafat hill and an equal number near the Namirah mosque, the remaining 41 teams will be stationed around Arafat General,” the minister said.

He added that so far not a single case of contagious disease was detected among the pilgrims. He also said that foreign pilgrims came fulfilling all health regulations and so nobody required quarantine at entry points.

According to a statement of Dr. Rasheed Al-Eid, director of medical administration for Haj, four pilgrims died yesterday of natural causes. Various medical centers at Mina attended to 33 traffic accidents, 10 heart and breathing complaints, 11 nervous breakdowns, 14 stomach complaints, 11 falls and eight other cases, said Al-Eid.

Col. Jamil Arba'een, director of Civil Defense at the holy sites, said his administration executed their scheduled plans for the Tarwiyah day such as sending large number of patrols on motorcycles and mini jeeps at the Central Zone around the Grand Mosque and on the roads leading to Mina.

“The Civil Defense did not receive any report of serious accidents. It was apparently because all the departments were meticulous in implementing the plans for the day. No entry point to Mina allowed vehicles carrying pilgrims illegally to Mina. Helicopters were also sent to detect illegal pilgrims sneaking into the holy sites on mud roads. Buses and other vehicles were instructed to carry stickers to prove that they had undergone strict inspection,” he said.

A police source said inspectors at various checkpoints aborted efforts by 16,000 people trying to enter Makkah without Haj permits. Thousands of disappointed Saudi and expatriate residents of Makkah, who were not allowed to enter the holy sites because they did not carry the mandatory permits, were seen crowded near the entry points, he said.

The Health Ministry has also issued a warning that pilgrims should keep away from crowded areas as much as possible to minimize their exposure to various diseases. The crowds also constitute potential hazard for the elderly, disabled and sick pilgrims, a ministry statement said.

According to a scout official, the Ministry of Commerce and scout members would monitor the prices and quality of items sold at various outlets. They would also ensure that vendors at the holy sites carry official permits, the official said.

The quantity of desalinated water consumed in Mina region exceeded 125,000 cubic meters yesterday, according to a statement of Muhammad Baghdadi, an official at the Makkah Water Directorate, said.

— With input from Faisal Ali

‘System in place to control crowds’

Badea Abu Al-Naja | Arab News  

MAKKAH:

Advanced technology is being used to control crowds in Makkah and the holy sites, according to a senior official responsible for crowd management at the holy sites.

“Geo information systems are in place and television cameras have been installed at all important locations to monitor surging crowds and any possible untoward situation,” Maj. Gen. Saad Al-Khelaiwi, assistant director for operations and assistant commander for crowd management, told Arab News yesterday.

About 1,500 cameras have been placed at prime locations, including on the Jamrat Bridge, at the Grand Mosque, in tunnels and all pedestrian roads and hilltops.

“The underlying principle of our strategy is never to allow people coming from different directions to converge. With this objective we have taken steps to guarantee that pedestrians move only in a single direction on a particular road,” Al-Khelaiwi said.

A number of security men posted at several locations on roads have been told to stop anyone moving in a direction that is counter to the flow of pedestrian traffic on any particular route. “Signs displayed on the roads advise pilgrims to travel in only one direction,” the assistant director added.

The measure to enforce one-way direction for pedestrians has been adopted following recommendations by domestic and foreign experts who took part in several crowd management workshops.

“With the help cameras placed on roads and other places in Makkah and the holy sites, particularly the Jamrat Bridge area, the Control and Command Center maintains a round-the-clock vigil. The greatest advantage of the system is that the control room gets a clear idea every moment of the number of pilgrims moving toward the Jamrat from different directions and the officials could be geared to handle any emergency. The cameras also spot the places where illegal pilgrims try to erect their makeshift camps,” he said.

The cameras also help the control room notice the activities of security forces working in a particular area and that helps in sending reinforcement in case of emergency, he added.

Speaking about the method of responding to reports at the command center, the assistant director said, “The personnel manning the center analyze the reports quickly and pass them to the relevant section responsible for handling that particular situation. Departments of police, Red Crescent, Civil Defense, Car Syndicate and utilities are working in concert with the command and control center.”