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#5716 [Permalink] Posted on 3rd May 2016 10:01
Grand Mosque Expansion cost SAR40 Billion



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#5717 [Permalink] Posted on 3rd May 2016 10:04
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#5718 [Permalink] Posted on 3rd May 2016 21:41
will the mosque ever go back to looking how it did before the works began? dont liek to say this but it looks ugly now. i used to loved the turkish bit ( which they are restoring) but also the arches on the second and 3rd floor. now it just looks like an eyesore. hope they do try to get it back to its former glory
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#5719 [Permalink] Posted on 4th May 2016 10:29
''Temporary mataf bridge'' 
to be completely removed by May 17



17 May 2016 = 10 Shaban 1437 H

The work on the removal of the temporary mataf bridge is going on 24/7
under the supervision of about 80 highly-qualified Saudi engineers.

May 4, 2016

MAKKAH — The technical committee of the project of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to expand the Grand Mosque has rescheduled its program to complete the removal of the temporary mataf (circumambulation area around the Holy Kaaba) on May 17 instead of the previous date of May 27.

Wail Saleh Al-Halabi, a committee member, said the progress made by the company involved in the dismantling of the temporary mataf has necessitated the rescheduling.

“No pilgrim or visitor was hurt or injured during the process to dismantle the structure,” he said.

Halabi said work on the project was going on 24/7 under the supervision of about 80 highly-qualified Saudi engineers.

Meanwhile, the Haj Ministry has allotted the locations in Mina and Arafat to tawafa establishments for external pilgrims.

The ministry’s undersecretary Hussain Al-Sharif said they have specified the tent locations so that each tawafa establishment is aware in advance of its exact place so as to formulate its operational plans.

Work on demolition of the suspended mataf began last month.

The temporary bridge was erected in August 2013 to reduce congestion in the Grand Mosque due to the implementation of the third phase of its expansion.

The demolition began on the western side of the King Fahd Expansion Project as the area was ready to receive pilgrims and visitors.

The contractor of the expansion project is carrying out the demolition process in collaboration with the security forces of the Grand Mosque, the Civil Defense and the technical committee to ensure the highest degree of safety for pilgrims.

Trucks to remove the debris enter the mataf area through Al-Shabakiyah area.

The first floor of the mataf has been dedicated for pilgrims using hand-pushed wheelchairs while the mezzanine floor will be used by pilgrims on electric chairs.

The entire third phase of the expansion project from Al-Shamiyah area, all mataf floors and the ceiling will be ready for use during Ramadan.

The new mataf area will allow about 107,000 pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba in an hour.

http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-ara...emoved-may-17/

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#5720 [Permalink] Posted on 4th May 2016 10:31
List of charges in Makkah 
crane crash case soon



The crane crash incident in the Grand Mosque in Makkah happened last
September just before Haj, but it took the BIP a long time to finalize the list
of charges due to the large number of people involved and the numerous
reports and files that had to be considered.

May 4, 2016

JEDDAH — The Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution (BIP) will prepare in the coming weeks a list of charges against the defendants involved in the crane crash in the Grand Mosque in Makkah last September.

According to informed sources, the BIP has questioned 88 engineers and officials in the Saudi Bindladin Group which was involved in the expansion project of the Grand Mosque.

It took the BIP a long time to finalize the list of charges due to the large number of people involved and the numerous reports and files that had to be considered.

The sources said the questions and answers were written in 1,700 pages.
According to the sources, so far as many as 21 public rights lawsuits have been filed against the Binladin Group for the people killed or injured in the incident.

They said the charges against the defendants included negligence and disregard of the regulations and instructions which led to the loss of lives and property.

They expected the court to issue discretionary punishments against the accused in addition to asking the operating company to pay the blood money to the families of the victims and to compensate for property damages.

The BIP offices in Riyadh and Makkah thoroughly scrutinized the case files before returning them to the Jeddah office.

The investigators sought the help of surveillance cameras which filmed the incident and considered the reports of the Civil Defense and the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME). The defendants appointed lawyers to help them answer the questions of the investigators and to defend them before the court.

Lawyer Majed Garoup said the defendants have enjoyed all the guarantees in the judiciary system including the help of lawyers during the investigations and trial.

http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-ara...ash-case-soon/

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#5721 [Permalink] Posted on 4th May 2016 10:32
Binladin ‘lost billions’ since 
''Makkah crane crash'' 



Company buses of Saudi Binladin Group that were burned 
by irate employees on Sunday in Makkah.

Tuesday 3 May 2016

RIYADH: Saudi Binladin Group has lost billions since the government refused to grant it additional contracts after last year’s crane crash in Makkah that killed 107 people, for which the firm was found partially responsible, according to a local media report on Monday.

The censure of the company had included a review of existing projects, and a ban on travel for several members. This had placed the company in a precarious position, which resulted in them not being able to pay workers in Makkah and Jeddah, with 77,000 layoffs reportedly taking place, according to several reports.

A source quoted by a local newspaper has claimed the company has had 77,000 final exit visas issued for expatriate workers.

The construction giant confirmed to AFP that some staff have been let go, but gave no numbers.

more: http://www.arabnews.com/news/binladi...as-say-reports

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#5722 [Permalink] Posted on 4th May 2016 10:32
Saudi Binladin workers 
burn company buses in Makkah 



Disgruntled employees of Saudi Binladin Group burned these 
company buses on Saterday night in Makkah

Sunday 1 May 2016

MAKKAH: Several company buses of Saudi Binladin Group were burned in Makkah on Saturday night, in the latest trouble facing the construction giant.

Maj. Nayef Al-Sharif, the spokesman for the Civil Defense in Makkah, said late Saturday that firefighters put out the blaze without any injuries reported.

The attack comes a day after the company terminated employment for 50,000 foreign workers and issued them exit visas.

The company has seen increasing restiveness among its staff over not being paid salaries for months and a large round of reported layoffs.

The Binladin Group has not issued any statements about the reported layoffs or the unrest. Calls and an e-mail request for comment to the company were not immediately returned.

For several weeks, thousands of the firm’s employees have been staging rare protests in Makkah and Jeddah, with some saying they have not been paid for six months.

Among those laid off were engineers, foremen, steel fixers, carpenters and welders at the firm. Many of those workers are apparently refusing to leave without being paid their late wages.

Gulf-based construction firms have been among the hardest-hit due to lower oil prices that have curbed and sometimes delayed government spending on major infrastructure projects.

The Saudi Binladin Group is one of the world’s largest construction firms. Founded in 1931 and headquartered in Jeddah, the firm has been behind some of Saudi Arabia’s most important projects, including roads, tunnels, airports, universities and hotels. It has carried out expansion work throughout the holy city of Makkah to accommodate more Muslim pilgrims, including construction of a massive clock tower with luxury hotels.

But the firm has been barred lately from acquiring new contracts after an initial government probe found the construction company was partly responsible for a crane collapse at the Grand Mosque last year that killed 111 people days before the start of the annual Haj pilgrimage.

The crane boom pierced the roof of the mosque housing Islam’s holiest site, the Kaaba, bringing down slabs of reinforced concrete and leaving bodies of worshippers lying amid pools of blood on the mosque floors.

http://www.arabnews.com/news/saudi-b...y-buses-makkah




 
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#5723 [Permalink] Posted on 6th May 2016 09:29
Holy Ka’bah to be washed 
once a year on Muharram 15 



 

May 5, 2016

MAKKAH – For the safety of worshipers and visitors to the Grand Mosque in Makkah and to facilitate carrying out the rites, the Holy Ka’bah will be washed once a year on Muharram 15 due to the ongoing projects and expansion works. 

Royal approval has been issued in this regard, SPA reported Wednesday quoting Ahmed Al-Mansouri, spokesman of the presidency for the affairs of the two holy mosques as saying.

http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-ara...r-muharram-15/

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#5724 [Permalink] Posted on 6th May 2016 09:37

Saudi Arabia is to once again allow construction giant Saudi Binladin Group bid for state contracts, days after it laid off tens of thousands of workers.

The firm was penalised after one of its cranes collapsed at the Grand Mosque in Mecca in September, killing 107 people.

A travel ban that was imposed on its top managers has also been lifted.

SBG, which was founded by the father of late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has also been affected by an economic slowdown resulting from low oil prices.

On Saturday, staff set fire to several company buses in Mecca during the latest protest at the layoffs and not being paid their salaries for up to six months.

'Routine' adjustments

A senior SBG executive told the Reuters news agency on Thursday that the company had been granted permission to submit tenders for government construction projects in a royal decree.

Buses, which witnesses said were burnt by Saudi Binladin Group workers, are seen in Mecca, Saudi Arabia (1 May 2016)Image copyrightReuters
Image captionWorkers angry at not being paid for months reportedly burnt company buses in Mecca

He was confirming a report in the Saudi newspaper al-Watan, which also cited a civil aviation authority official as saying that several projects involving SBG, the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, would be able to resume.

BBC Arab affairs analyst Sebastian Usher says this is the first good news in months for the company that built much of modern Saudi Arabia.

On Monday, the Saudi newspaper al-Watan reported that SBG had dismissed 77,000 foreign workers and issued exit visas for them to leave the country.

The company also planned to lay off 12,000 of the 17,000 Saudis who work for it in supervisory, administrative, engineering and management jobs, it said.

Logo of the Saudi Binladin Group on their headquarters in Jeddah (file)Image copyrightAFP
Image captionThe company said the job cuts were "routine" adjustments amid a construction slowdown

SBG, which last year said it employed 200,000 people, said the job cuts were "routine" adjustments amid a slowdown in the construction industry.

"Most of the released jobs had initially been recruited for contracted projects with specific time frame and deliverables," Bloomberg quoted a statement as saying.

The company also denied that it had dismissed workers without pay.

On Tuesday, Labour Minister Mufrej al-Haqbani said some SBG workers would receive their unpaid salaries this month, while others would get the money later.

He did not say how SBG would obtain the money. Citing commercial bankers in the Gulf, Reuters reported that SBG was believed to owe banks about $30bn (£21bn).

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#5725 [Permalink] Posted on 9th May 2016 09:26
Terror cells busted in Jeddah, Makkah raids

 

Friday 6 May 2016

JEDDAH: In two preemptive raids carried out simultaneously in Makkah and Jeddah on Thursday, the Interior Ministry thwarted the plots of several terrorists planning attacks in the Kingdom.

In the first raid on a rest house in Wadi No’man, east of Makkah, at dawn on Thursday, members of the security forces and the terrorists were involved in a fire fight, resulting in the death of two terrorists, while two others with suicide belts blew themselves up. No one else was injured.

The ministry had received information about the presence of several terrorists a few kilometers from security installations at the holy sites. The area was immediately cordoned off at dawn and surrounded. The men had opened fire at the security forces and thrown grenades.

Makkah governorate announced the success of the security operation on its Twitter account, without releasing further details, saying that the ministry would release information at a later stage.

It is believed that the Makkah cell is linked to Oqab Al-Otaibi, a suspect arrested recently in connection with the Daesh cell that carried out a suicide attack on a mosque used by members the Special Emergency Forces in Asir in August 2015.

At the same time, the authorities carried out another raid in Jeddah where two men were allegedly hiding and planning attacks.

Both were arrested and are under investigation for their links to a terrorist cell.

An Interior Ministry source said that the two successful operations had been carried out based on information gathered from a two-day raid in Bisha that ended on Sunday.

In the operation, two Daesh suspects were killed and a third wounded.

http://www.arabnews.com/news/terror-...h-makkah-raids

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#5726 [Permalink] Posted on 9th May 2016 09:28
Makkah cop shot dead hours
after raid on Daesh hideout 

 

Friday 6 May 2016

MAKKAH: A still unidentified suspect has gunned down a policeman in Makkah, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday.

Corporal Khalaf Al-Harithi was shot late on Thursday while on duty at a police station outside the holy city, SPA quoted a local police spokesman as saying.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which happened hours after security forces gunned down two Daesh insurgents during a raid on the terror group's hideout in Wadi No’man, east of Makkah.

Two other terrorists blew themselves up with suicide belts after they were cornered, while a fifth suspect was arrested and is now undergoing interrogation, the Ministry of Interior said on Thursday.

In another raid in Jeddah, authorities also arrested two terror suspects allegedly plotting to carry out attacks.

Saudi security forces have thwarted a number of attempts by terrorists to sow havoc in the kingdom with the arrest of suspects in the past months following a series of bomb attacks on mosques. 

http://www.arabnews.com/news/makkah-...-daesh-hideout

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#5727 [Permalink] Posted on 9th May 2016 09:29
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#5728 [Permalink] Posted on 12th May 2016 16:25

الرواق العثماني
The plan of the Ottoman porticos to fit the new expansion





as it appears in the render



Mataf on 7 May 2016
 

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#5729 [Permalink] Posted on 12th May 2016 16:26
Mobile phone charging facility 
at Grand Mosque in Makkah

 

May 12, 2016

MAKKAH — The General Presidency for the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque launched on Tuesday its mobile phone charging service, Makkah newspaper reported.

The presidency announced in October that it would launch a new service providing outlets in the Grand Mosque to allow pilgrims and worshippers to charge their mobile phones, said presidency’s Vice President Mashhour Al-Munimi.

Mobile phone charging points have been provided at various pillars inside the Grand Mosque.

The charging points have eight outlets. There are pockets to place mobile phones while they are charging.

“The presidency aims to always serve pilgrims and worshippers,” said Al-Munimi.

He added that each person will only be allowed to charge for five minutes when the mosque is crowded.

“The presidency is not responsible for the phones in case they are lost or damaged,” said Al-Munimi.

http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-ara...mosque-makkah/

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#5730 [Permalink] Posted on 12th May 2016 16:31
Royal Decree to amend the name
of the « Ministry of Haj » into the
 

« Ministry of Haj and Umrah »
 

2016/05/08

"In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful"

No.A/133

Dated 30/7/1437 AH

With the help of Allah the Almighty,

We, Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud

Monarch of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 

Upon the perusal of the Basic Law of Governance, issued by the Royal Decree No. (A/90) dated 27/8/1412 AH;

And based on the Law of the Council of Ministers, issued by the Royal Decree No. (A/13) dated 03/03/1414 AH;

And upon perusal of the relevant laws, ordinances, royal decrees, decisions and instructions;

And based on the public interest,

We hereby decree the following:

Sixthly: The name of the ''Ministry of Haj'' shall be amended into '' Ministry of Haj and Umrah '' 

http://haj.gov.sa/English/Pages/News...spx?ItemId=134




Royal Order

Saturday 1437/7/30 - 2016/05/07 

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
issued a royal order today, relieving Dr. Bandar bin Mohammed bin Hamza
Assad Hajjar, Minister of Hajj, of his post.

http://www.spa.gov.sa/viewstory.php?...newsid=1497994



Royal Decree with regard to the appointment 
of Dr. Mohammed Saleh bin Taher Bentin 
to the post of Minister of Haj and Umrah



Dr. Mohammed Saleh bin Taher Bentin

2016/05/07

"In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful"

No.A/138

Dated 30/7/1437 AH

With the help of Allah the Almighty,

We, Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud

Monarch of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Upon the perusal of the Basic Law of Governance, issued by the Royal Decree No. (A/90) dated 27/8/1412 AH,

And based on the Law of the Council of Ministers, issued by the Royal Decree No. (A/13) dated 03/03/1414 AH,

And upon perusal of the Royal Decree No. (A/68) dated 9/4/1436 AH;

And upon perusal of the Royal Decree No. (A) 133) dated 30/7/1437 AH;

We hereby decree the following:

Firstly: That His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Saleh bin Taher Bentin be appointed to the post of Minister of Haj and Umrah

Secondly: This order shall be submitted to the competent authorities for endorsement and implementation

Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud 

http://haj.gov.sa/English/Pages/News...spx?ItemId=133

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