Makkah News and Updates

Sunday 16 June 2013

The Malaysian government is hoping that the Haj quota could be continued at 28,000 pilgrims, same as last year. Currently one million Malays are on the Haj waiting list.

“The Saudi government wants to provide comfort and the best services to Haj pilgrims. We will wait for the letter from the Saudi government and consider our next move,” said Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, minister in the Prime Minister’s department.

Yesterday, the Saudi government announced to cut Indonesia’s quota by 20 percent or 42,000 pilgrims in view of the limited space following the ongoing expansion of the holy sites.

“The government would give priority to pilgrims above 70 years old. We will also examine the appeals from applicants whom we should give consideration for reasons like wanting to accompany their disabled or frail relatives to perform Haj,” said Jamil Khir.

The Saudi government also cut Indian quota by 20 percent but Indian authorities requested Saudi authorities to reconsider their decision, taking into account the advanced stage of preparations.

Saudi Arabia’s National Committee for Haj and Umrah (NCHU) claimed that hotels, Umrah operators and aviation firms are estimated to lose SR 5 billion in revenue after the Kingdom limited the number of Umrah visas and their duration.

The expansion of the Grand Mosque in Makkah will allow it to receive two million pilgrims at a time. It is the largest expansion ever undertaken on the site. The project has been reported to cost more than $ 21 billion (SR 79 billion).

http://arabnews.com/news/455171

Sunday, 16 June 2013

Redesign the toothbrush: A former student of New York’s School of Visual Arts, Leen Sadder, looked to the roots of oral hygiene to complete the task set by her professor.

During her research she came across the benefits of the Miswak stick, a tooth-cleaning twig traditionally used mainly in the Middle East, Pakistan and India. With each use, the top is bitten off to reveal soft bristles similar to that of a toothbrush.

The twig is made from the Salvadora persica tree.

“I thought to myself, ‘you know what, you're in grad school. You’re allowed to do crazy things like this,’ and went ahead with the stick idea,” Leen told the Al-Bawaba news outlet in an interview.

Sadder began her student project, revamping the Miswak stick with the aim of marketing it to a modern, western audience.

And so “THIS” was born; the product introduced as “organic, portable and beneficial for daily dental care.”

The biggest challenge, states the website for “the dieline Package Design conference” held in San Francisco, was figuring out how to advertise the stick to a contemporary audience, not used to the idea of biting the end of a stick to brush their teeth.

The “THIS” team, which has grown to involve a few more individuals according to their Facebook page, came up with a solution based on a cigar cutter, and included a “stick cutter” in the product’s packaging.

As well as clinical, sleek packaging, a campaign was designed to promote “THIS” as a viable alternative to the toothbrush for the contemporary market.

A series of posters and print ads were designed depicting photographs of sticks in nature compared to photos of the Miswak stick in a clean bathroom, with the phrases “This is a stick,” and “This is a toothbrush,” superimposed respectively.

The product has not been mass produced yet and is still in the design phase, according to their promotional Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/thisisatoothbrush

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the use of the Miswak stick in 1986. In 2000, an international consensus report on oral hygiene concluded that further research was needed to document the effect of the natural product.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/life...wak-stick.html

1 June 2013

from the crescent - 600 m

 

Tuesday 18 June 2013

The Makkah Traffic Department will install 40 Saher cameras to monitor traffic during Ramadan, said Sultan Al-Jumaie, director of traffic in Makkah.
“Four cameras will start operations at traffic light intersections within the coming few weeks,” he told a local newspaper.

The Traffic Department is now linking the third ring road with the main road going east out of Makkah, down to Al-Umrah Tunnel. “This project will take 20 days at the most,” explained Al-Jumaie.

Those wishing to progress to Al-Fayha’a neighborhood via the old Makkah road can access the highway toward Al-Altra traffic light, or the ring road and come back from under the bridge.

Almost all personnel of the Traffic Department will supervise and organize the traffic, with the help and support of the General Directorate of Traffic.

“Parking locations and rest places have been allocated for pilgrims and worshipers at Kaddi, King Abdulaziz Road, the tunnels of Maskhuta, Jarwal District and other plazas with the coordination of traffic police at each parking and rest stop.

During Ramadan, parking is prohibited in the central area and the tunnels. Worshipers and pilgrims should rely on public transportation as much as possible. “There is full coordination with the Secretariat of Makkah to allocate parking areas for taxis and buses,” said Al-Jumaie

A special squad, he added, will monitor and pursue all motorcycle owners who illegally commute pilgrims and worshipers. “These motorcycle taxis are a very dangerous means of transportation, indeed a threat to people’s lives.”

A special technical team will monitor time periods of traffic lights so they are consistent with traffic movement and congestion. Traffic light movements will move in accordance with the traffic flow.

http://www.arabnews.com/news/455392

Tuesday 18 June 2013

The Haj Ministry has issued 4,727,960 Umrah visas, of which 4,068,387 foreign pilgrims have already arrived in the Kingdom.

Mohammad Al-Bijawi, director of Madinah branch of the ministry, said they are monitoring arrival of the pilgrims at Madinah airport and Yanbu Port round the clock.

He said that the branch is also monitoring the accommodation of pilgrims and helping solve their problems. “All complaints are addressed on the spot to ensure their comfort.”

More than 10,700 lost pilgrims were directed and guided by the ministry's branch since the beginning of Umrah season.

“They were taken to their original service providers, while follow-up and monitoring committees are supervising the process to detect any shortages or flaws by companies providing Umrah services, which number 48,” Al-Bijawi said.

Such monitoring contributed to the improvement of services provided by these companies, he said, adding: “The number of violations since the beginning of the season decreased by 30 percent (529 violations) compared to the same period of last year.

The third stage of the operational plan includes escorting pilgrims to the departure outlets, where the movement of pilgrims to the two airports in Jeddah and Madinah, and to the two ports in Jeddah and Yanbu is being monitored to ensure their safety and the flow of traffic.

http://www.arabnews.com/news/455400

Wednesday 19 June 2013

Around 400 infrastructure and service projects in Makkah are delayed, said an official at the Makkah Mayoralty. Several road construction projects, flood projects, works in public parks and gardens and the municipality’s utilities are running behind schedule.

“The mayoralty immediately addresses any delays or shortages by contractors, imposing fines or withdrawing the project in the process and handing it to another contractor,” said Makkah Mayor Osama Al-Bar.

Al-Bar said that regulations are rigorously applied and failing contractors are “blacklisted for all municipalities and mayoralties across the Kingdom.”

“The mayoralty understands that circumstances can delay some contractors due to obstacles that were not taken into account such as the emergence of services that need coordination and shifting.”

Al-Bar said that 6 percent of the current projects of the Makkah Mayoralty are worth SR 5 million each. Another 44 percent are worth SR 5 million to SR 30 million each, while 16 percent of them are each valued at SR 30 million to SR 100 million. Finally, 34 percent of the projects are each worth more than SR 100 million.

“The Reconstruction and Projects Agency is implementing at the moment 11 major projects, 147 road constructions, 158 gardens and municipality’s utilities, 14 urban planning and 68 projects to channel floodwater,” he said, adding that the agency is supervising 43 urban studies. The high price of real estate is among the main obstacles in the implementation of the projects.
Al-Bar said the support of the Finance Ministry is urgently needed to overcome these obstacles.

Other obstacles that Al-Bar referred to are the lack of accurate information about underground cables and connections such as water pipe networks, sewage networks, flood discharging channels, power lines and fiberoptic cables. He called on all parties concerned to build a detailed and complete database on these cables and connections.

“A study is being conducted at the Secretariat on underground tunnels for service networks to install the infrastructure according to global development systems,” said Al-Bar, adding that this will reduce the costs of construction and maintenance, facilitate future expansions and maintain network services and the flow in traffic.

http://www.arabnews.com/news/455504