Makkah News and Updates

Tuesday 3 June 2014

The Shoura Council (consultative body) has urged the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nazaha) to investigate the delay in the completion of the Haramain Railway project, which was originally scheduled to be finished by 2012.

“The Nazaha should also investigate the budget allocated to the Haramain Railway project and the reasons for the increase in the funds needed for the completion of the project,” the Shoura Council said in a meeting held to discuss the annual report of the Saudi Railway Organization (SRO).

The Shoura also urged the SRO to give a timeframe to get rid of the old trains. “It should explain the decreasing numbers of train passengers each year,” the council said while stressing the need for the SRO to speed up privatization efforts.

Some Shoura members called for linking the industrial city of Yanbu with the land-bridge railway project that links Riyadh with Jeddah.

The Haramain High-Speed Rail Project includes a 450km rail link between Makkah and Madinah and passes through Jeddah and Rabigh with Phase one having started in 2009. The railway will cut down travel time between the two holy cities to two hours and between Jeddah and Makkah to half an hour.

The $1.8 billion contract for Phase I was awarded in March 2009 to the Al-Rajhi Alliance, a consortium of Chinese and Saudi companies, the China Railway Engineering and Alstom Transport.

In April 2009, $38 million worth of design contracts for four of the five train stations were awarded to a joint venture between Foster & Partners and Buro Happold. In February 2010, a $96 million contract was awarded to Dar Al-Handasa consultants to supervise the project and a $24 million contract to manage the system was signed by Scott Wilson. Renfe was awarded the Phase II contract to supply 35 of the Talgo 350 high speed trains.

According to a study by the Ministry of Haj, in the next 25 years the number of pilgrims is expected to increase to more than three million and Umrah performers to more than 11 million. The annual increase is expected to be 1.4 percent for Haj and 3.14 percent for Umrah pilgrims.

Meanwhile, the Shoura pressed for the appointing of an independent body to review the functioning of the four economic cities of Rabigh, Jazan, Hail and Madinah to find out the reasons for the delay and disruption of projects there.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah launched the economic cities as part of the efforts to achieve balanced development in different parts of the Kingdom and attract foreign investment.

The Shoura asked the Economic Cities Authority to clarify the reasons for the deviation from the objective of the Knowledge Economic City in Madinah, which was originally planned to establish knowledge-based industries.

Saudi bloggers backed the Shoura’s call for inquiry into the Haramain project and economic cities. One of them suggested that the establishment of big economic and industrial cities must be stopped, saying they were eating into the country’s human and material resources. The blogger, who introduced himself as Sulaiman, said the government would do better to focus on residential cities to meet the growing housing requirements of citizens.

“The SRO must be given enough funds to carry out its present and future projects in order to improve its services,” they said.

http://www.arabnews.com/news/581621
STEARNS - Design Build Steel

The Haramain High Speed Railway is an inter-city transport system currently under construction in Saudi Arabia. It will connect the cities of Medina and Makkah (Mecca) via King Abdullah Economic City, Rabigh, Jeddah, and King Abdulaziz International Airport (where Stearns is also currently doing work). The electric trains will operate at 320 kilometers/200 miles per hour and are anticipated to carry three million passengers a year.

Stearns fabricated the steel skin support frame in Turkey, it was preassembled there, then disassembled, containerized, and shipped to Makkah where it was erected.

Project Details

Location: Makkah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Contractor: Saudi Bin Ladin Group
Subcontractor: United Arap Aluminium Company (UAAC)
Architect: Foster + Partners, Sir Norman Foster
Engineer-of-Record: Foster + Partners, Buro Happold

http://www.rfstearns.com/haramain-high-speed-railway/

Thursday 5 June 2014

The Haj ministry is focusing on enhancing cost-effective services for domestic pilgrims following earlier complaints of the high expenses involved in making the pilgrimage. This year, the ministry is facilitating arrangements for 168,000 domestic pilgrims to help them perform Haj comfortably and at a low cost.

Owing to the high expenses in the past, the number of domestic pilgrims is expected to drop this year. However, the ministry has addressed this problem by offering low-cost Haj packages. Despite this, there are fears of the triggering of a price war among the Haj services providers which could be just the tip of the iceberg.

The ministry also intends to counter criticism in its procedures of selection of pilgrims in the low-cost package by according more publicity to the registration process to ensure transparency.

According to the ministry’s officials, Haj companies offering low-cost packages are being given incentives such as an increase in the number of pilgrims they can accommodate in the holy sites.

The low-cost Haj package does not include accommodation in the Mina Towers located at the foothills of Mina and neither are the companies contracting with Mina Towers Real Estate Company allowed to take part in the allocation phase for this package.

Moreover, only one camp will be allocated in the low-cost program. However, companies which are willing to offer their services in the low-cost Haj program will be allowed to do so following an agreement with the ministry on the specified services and rates with the condition that the ministry has more than one camp available.

Although the ministry has stated that the low-cost package will cost up to SR1,500, experts who do not want to be named said that it could exceed that amount.

A senior official in the Haj Ministry, Abdul Rahman Al-Nafi, said that 53 locations had been allocated for the internal pilgrims in the low-cost Haj program. Companies will be able to choose which of these locations they would like to offer the pilgrims and the capacity of each location.

Furthermore, he pointed out that the ministry had ensured that the guide to the procedures for this year’s companies who were offering the low-cost Haj package for domestic pilgrims would be released well in advance.

He said that this was the first time in history that the Haj procedures including services, location of accommodation, and other related issues would be distributed early.

“This year, the total number of domestic pilgrims stand at 168,000 including 120,000 pilgrims with regular packages and 41,000 covered under the low-cost package,” he said, adding that 116 Haj companies had expressed their interest to participate in offering the low-cost Haj but only 53 were selected.

The allocation of accommodation in the holy sites is complete and the ministry is currently working on the preparation of the Haj arrangements, the official confirmed.

http://www.arabnews.com/news/582046

Monday 19 May 2014

Overwhelmed with happiness and joy, Moroccan pilgrim Moaz expressed his feelings while performing Umrah for the first time in his life as a dream come true.

“I have been saving money for this trip for years. I am grateful to Allah the almighty for granting me this opportunity to come to Madinah and Makkah and visit the birthplace of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and fulfil an important ritual of Islam. I cannot describe how I feel and I am hopeful that my next visit to this holy place will be to perform Haj,” he told Arab News.

Since his arrival in Madinah, Moaz said he has been able to visit the Quba Mosque which is the oldest mosque in the world adding that he was impressed with the state-of-the-art place of worship.

“Hopefully, I will also visit Masjid Al-Qiblatain, but now I am spending most of my time praying in the Prophet’s Mosque, Masjid Al-Nabawi, where Prophet Muhammad is buried. It contains the Green Dome and I think it is one of the most beautiful domes in the world.”

Describing his journey to the holy sites, Moaz said the trip was successful although they had faced some obstacles in Makkah where they had to stay in a hotel that was relatively far from Haram.

However, he said, the situation in Madinah was much better as their hotel was closer to the Prophet’s Mosque and to other services. Moaz praised the Kingdom’s efforts aimed at facilitating the services offered to Umrah and Haj performers who come to this part of the world from across the globe, adding that his Umrah trip has so far cost him around SR7,000.

http://www.arabnews.com/news/573191

Monday 2 June 2014

In observance of the upcoming holy month of Ramadan, Bahrain’s national carrier Gulf Air has modified its flight schedule to and from Madinah, effective from July 1, catering to Muslim travelers’ needs by allowing passengers to break their fast either after landing in Madinah or during the two-hour flight.

Gulf Air’s Acting Senior Manager of GCC and Middle East Sales Ahmed Al-Matrook said: “We are very pleased to offer an improved schedule to our customers during the holy month of Ramadan. As an airline with one of the largest Middle East networks, a significant number of our passengers observe Ramadan and, with our modified flight schedule, we aim to respect the religious and cultural customs of our fasting travelers. We believe the modified schedule caters to our passengers’ needs and will improve their travel experience.”

Gulf Air holds a leadership position in the Middle East by operating one of the largest regional networks, with multiple daily flights to more than 10 regional cities. The national carrier is well-positioned to connect Madinah to destinations in the Middle East, Asia and Europe through its efficient hub Bahrain.

Gulf Air launched its operations to Madinah in 2010 and today offers five weekly flights between Bahrain and the religious hub, operated by an Airbus A320.

The aircraft features a two-class configuration, with 16 Falcon Gold Class seats and 120 Economy Class seats. The A320 aircraft is equipped with the airline’s latest in-flight entertainment technology offering hundreds of channels of entertainment, including a recently added new video channel featuring the full 30 chapters of the Qur’an (all 114 Surahs) in both Arabic and English, a step-by-step "how to" guide for Haj and Umrah in four different languages and a special Dua’a channel.

The new flight schedule to Madinah will be in effect between July 1 and 24.

http://www.arabnews.com/news/580501

Friday, 06 June 2014

MAKKAH — The Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques Affairs has announced the names of imams who will lead the special night prayers at the Grand Mosque in Makkah during the fasting month of Ramadan.

The six imams who will lead the late night Taraweeh and pre-dawn Tahajjud prayers include Sheikh Abdulrahman Al-Sudais, who is the head of the presidency. The other five are Saud Al-Shuraim, Abdullah Awwad Al-Johani, Maher Hamad Al-Muaiqly, Khaled Ali Al-Ghamdi and Bandar Abdulaziz Baleelah.

Al-Sudais will lead the Taraweeh prayers on the night of Khatm Al-Qur’an (the night when the recitation of the Qur’an is completed), which is usually the 29th night of Ramadan, and Sheikh Saleh Bin Abdullah Bin Humaid will lead the Eid Al-Fitr prayers.

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index...20140606207538

Friday, 06 June 2014

A neglected rock in Ghouwtah Mountain, 20 km east of the historic village of Jubbah in Hail, contains the history of the Thamud, an ancient Arab tribe known for carving stone buildings. The rock is the only known rock left with etchings of sacrosanct dances and names of deities worshipped by the Thamud, Nabataeans and other tribes that settled in the area, said archaeologist Turki Almihaifir.

The tribes lived in mountains such as the Umm Sanman and Almarabib. Almihaifir has translated a significant amount of ancient writings and he said symbols engraved on the rock are a depiction of several types of dances performed on different occasions.

Speaking to Makkah daily, Almihaifir lamented that proper attention has not been given to discovering, translating and preserving historic artifacts in Saudi Arabi. He said the discovery of the rock is evidence that the cultures of ancient tribes have not been properly documented.

He called on the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) to preserve and protect ancient artifacts and not rely on the media to convey the beauty of the land to the people.

Almihaifir said Jubbah contains a sea of historical artifacts dating to pre-Islamic Arabia. “Jubbah is not the only historical area in the Kingdom. There are Arabic engravings dating back to 693 located near Zubaidah and depictions in Alhinakiyah, Ratt and Almanjour that illustrate how ancient tribes survived as hunter-gatherers,” he said. Khalif Alsaqheer, a modern history professor at Hail University, said dance is one of the oldest forms of expression.

“People used to clap and stomp before they learned how to speak words and construe sentences. An example of a hallowed dance is the dance performed in ancient Iraq and Levant to the deity Isis.”

According to Alsagheer, it is difficult to define the exact era these depictions date back to. There have been previous efforts by archaeologists to illustrate the date but none are reliable.

“Some of the results of these efforts revealed that these depictions date back to the Stone Age at around 5,000 to 7,000 B.C.”

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index...20140606207537

Wednesday, 28 May 2014

Preparations are currently underway to set the stage for the construction of King Abdullah Haj Terminal in Madinah, which will start next month. The Ministry of Finance, which is financing the terminal, is currently making the soil analysis and other spade work for the commencement of construction.

Mohammed Al-Bijawi, director of the Haj Ministry's Madinah branch, said the terminal will be built on Hijrah Road on an area of 1.6 million sq. meters accommodating more than 200,000 pilgrims at a time.

"The terminal will be a quantitative leap reflecting the care and concern given by the Kingdom's leaders to the ease and comfort of the pilgrims and visitors," he said.

Al-Bijawi said under instructions from Madinah Emir Prince Faisal Bin Salman, coordination is currently being made with the municipality to receive a plot of land with an area of 340,000 sq. meters on the Hijrah Road to be made into a temporary terminal to receive the air, land and sea pilgrims.

"The temporary terminal will include buildings and facilities for all government and private establishments involved in the provision of services to the pilgrims and visitors," he said.

Meanwhile, Abdul Ghani Bin Hammad Al-Ansari, deputy chairman of the municipal council, said the project comes at a time when hotels in the central area around the Prophet's Mosque have become unable to accommodate the growing number of visitors. "The terminal will provide more than 3,000 new work opportunities," he added.

He said the terminal will include hotels and accommodation facilities, government buildings, a metro station and a 400-bed hospital.

Al-Ansari said the terminal will substitute the existing Haj reception hall, which was opened about three years ago on an area of 15,000 sq. meters with a covered area of 2,700 sq. meters.

On the other hand, Abdul Wahid Hattab, director of the department of information and public relations of the Presidency of the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques, said the expansion of the Prophet's Mosque will not affect its intake capacity, especially during Ramadan and school summer vacation. "The plazas of the mosque from all the four sides will remain open for the visitors," he said.

Prophet's Mosque

Hattab said the Prophet's Mosque has geared up to receive the growing number of visitors during Ramadan and added that more than 3,200 male and female workers have been employed to clean the mosque. "There will also be more than 2,000 employees from the presidency to look after the visitors providing them with consummate services," he added.

Hattab said the mosque has been supplied with more than 2,500 tanks containing Zamzam water. "The mosque's 100 doors will remain open and all the elevators and the electric escalators will be operational 24/7," he said.

He said the air-conditioning will cover an area of 10,000 sq. meters inside the mosque in addition to 426 fans sprinkling water to cool down the temperature in the plazas, which cover an area of 36,500 sq. meters.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/busi...ce=twitterfeed
http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index...20140528206583

 

Saudi firm in Makkah map card agreement

New Hajj and Umrah Z-Map

Old Mataf - Marble tiles installation

year ?

Saturday 7 June 2014

Pilgrims from around the world are pouring into Makkah, undeterred by the spread of the MERS virus.

“We have received warnings by authorities in our country about MERS and were informed of the importance of taking precautions,” 45-year-old Abdullah, a pilgrim from Malaysia, was quoted as saying in a report.

Wearing a mask, Abdullah said he applies disinfectants as he enters the Grand Mosque. “God will protect me,” he said. More pilgrims are expected to arrive with the approach of Ramadan, which sees hundreds of thousands descend on Makkah for Umrah.

But numbers will rocket when pilgrims arrive for Haj, which takes place this year in October. Authorities in Makkah are distributing leaflets and brochures containing advice on hygiene and measures to prevent the risk of infection by the coronavirus, AFP reported.

Safia bin Mohammed, a pilgrim from Tunisia, shrugged off the fears of MERS. “I am not afraid of the coronavirus,” she said, pointing out that it is not always easy to get a visa to perform pilgrimage.

“It was not easy to come here, so I couldn’t have postponed my pilgrimage,” said the 56-year-old woman, insisting she was “complying with the medical precautions.”

In a preemptive measure to avoid a potential importation of the virus, Tunisian authorities have advised nationals to postpone their plans for pilgrimage this year.

Last year, five million pilgrims visited Saudi Arabia for Umrah and Haj.

This year, the number of Umrah pilgrims has reached 4.8 million since the start of the lunar Muslim calendar in October, according to official statistics.
Jeddah is the main entry point for pilgrims.

The World Health Organization has also so far not advised special screening at points of entry, nor does it currently recommend any travel or trade restrictions, including for the pilgrimage.

There is no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission of MERS, according to WHO.

“We are complying with the instructions of the health authorities. The situation seems normal,” said Murshed Ahmed, a Bangladeshi leading a group of 23 pilgrims from his country. “The coronavirus has no impact on the Umrah season,” said Saad Al-Qurashi, a Saudi who works for an agency specialized in religious tourism.

But the head of a similar agency seemed more cautious.

http://www.arabnews.com/news/583097

Friday 6 June 2014

There has been an 80 percent decrease in the number of MERS coronavirus cases during the past six weeks due to the preventive measures, Acting Health Minister Adel Fakeih has told the Shoura Council.

Fakeih enumerated the measures taken by the Ministry of Health in coordination with all local and global agencies and the ministry of agriculture.

He said that the same efforts would be further intensified during the Umrah and Haj season to have the disease under control in the Kingdom.

“The ministry will be able to ensure proactive and swift action against future public health challenges, such as MERS-CoV through continuous coordination and monitoring. Topnotch clinicians, scientists, researchers and health care and emergency planning experts will work for a new health Command and Control Center (CCC).

The CCC will ensure that health challenges are managed with a systematic, holistic and comprehensive approach.

The center currently has 11 platforms, each of which is tasked with a specific topic, all under the coordination of the control tower platform.

“We have now documented every single MERS case that occurred in the Kingdom since September 2012,” the minister said, pointing out that so far 689 cases have been reported including 283 deaths. A total of 53 patients are under treatment and 353 have recovered from the illness.

He said the summer season would not aggravate the spread of the disease in the Kingdom. However, he added that concerted efforts must be made by people to observe personal hygiene to cover their noses while sneezing and coughing. He said the ministry is in the process of gearing up its 500 hospitals to meet the health challenges in the country.

Meanwhile, researchers have found the first direct evidence that the virus jumps directly from camels to humans.

The latest findings in the New England Journal of Medicine are based on a 44-year-old Saudi man who kept a herd of nine camels and who died of MERS in November 2013.

His friends said they witnessed him applying a topical medicine to the nose of one of his ill camels — four of them were reportedly sick with nasal discharge — seven days before he himself became stricken with MERS.

Researchers sequenced the virus found in one of the sick camels and the virus that killed the man, and found that their genomes were identical.

“These data suggest that this fatal case of human MERS-CoV infection was transmitted through close contact with an infected camel,” said the study led by Tariq Madani at the department of medicine, King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah.

Previous research has suggested that the virus has been quite common in camels for at least the past 20 years, and was likely making the jump into humans.

http://www.arabnews.com/news/582706 Saturday 7 June 2014

Ozone gas might kill the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) because experimental data shows it is effective in reducing 90 percent of airborne bacteria and viruses, according to a leading expert.

Saad Jasim, a member of the International Ozone Association and world expert in the application of the gas in various industries, said that ozone is effective in killing pathogens in water, food and air.

He said ozone acts as a powerful disinfectant, removes pharmaceutical waste and improves treatment processes. It also helps to create more oxygen.
He said the outbreak of SARS worldwide in March 2003 had increased the awareness of the transmission of respiratory diseases in indoor environments.

He was speaking at a conference organized by the Saudi Ozone Company on Thursday at the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) offices at King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) in Jeddah. Several international and local experts attended the event.

The Saudi Ozone Company, which organized the event, has proposed that GACA uses ozone in its filtration systems at the country's airports because it is better than the normal carbon filters.

Abdulhamid bin Hammad Aba Al-Arri, director general of the KAIA, said that the airport wants to ensure that it has the best technology to protect passengers from all diseases including MERS.

“The technology is evolving but GACA will not proceed any further until it is assured this is really safe technology and also accepted by the Ministry of Health,” he said.

He said the environment at the airport was important now because of the coming summer holidays and Ramadan, with more than 6 million Umrah visitors expected.

Jan Arlemark, an expert in ozone technology, said the gas is used in different environments including the food industry, cold storage rooms, restaurant kitchens and airports.

However, it is poisonous in large quantities, which made it necessary for experts and specialists to oversee its use.

Sami Suleiman Al-Akouz, chief executive of the Saudi Ozone company, said that the aim of this event is to explore applications to provide a better quality of life.

http://www.arabnews.com/news/583067