Makkah News and Updates

 

07 December 2011

RIYADH – The 33rd King Abdul Aziz International Holy Qur’an competition will be held at the Grand Mosque in Makkah on Dec. 19, it was announced Tuesday by Sheikh Saleh Bin Abdulaziz Aal Al-Sheikh, Minister of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance and Supervisor General of the Holy Qur’an Competitions.

He said 161 contestants from 53 countries will participate in the five sections of the international competition which covers memorization, Tajweed and interpretation. It is being held under the patronage of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.

He said the Kingdom’s leaders have generously contributed to this important competition since its inception in 1987. Competitions have always been held to spread the message of the Holy Qur’an since the state was founded by the late King Abdul Aziz (may Allah rest his soul in peace).

He said the Kingdom is committed to the Qur’an in words and deeds and has demonstrated this by setting up schools, institutes and colleges. It has also built the King Fahd Holy Qur’an Printing Complex in Madina where the Holy Qur’an is printed and distributed to Muslims all over the world.

He said the competition has no parallel in the world. He added that the Book of Allah calls for worshipping Allah alone. It is the last revelation and a guide for all humankind.

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index...20111207113360

Mina, tent city

By MD HUMAIDAN | ARAB NEWS

Published: Dec 8, 2011 00:39 Updated: Dec 8, 2011 00:39

JEDDAH: Haj and Umrah service providing companies have been given six months to Saudize all their managerial and supervisory positions, official sources at the Haj Ministry said Tuesday.

The six months have already started on Dec. 1 and will end by May 2012.

The Haj Ministry asked the companies to make immediate plans for the substitution of foreigners by Saudis, sources said. The ministry was certain there are many competent and qualified Saudis to take over these jobs.

Other sources, however, doubted the instructions of the Haj Ministry would be implemented. They recalled previous unsuccessful attempts of the Haj and Umrah companies to Saudize their managerial staff.

According to these sources, the ministry and the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) had signed an agreement in 2007 to employ Saudi men and women at Haj and Umrah companies. The agreement stipulates that these companies Saudize all their jobs.

The sources said the agreement did not work, as the companies were unwilling to comply. Many Haj and Umrah companies had been forced out of the market, so their Saudi employees had to look for jobs elsewhere.

Preparations for the 2012 season have already started. The first groups of Umrah pilgrims are expected to arrive in the Kingdom by late January.

The pilgrims who performed Haj this year have until Dec. 10 to leave the country.

According to statistics released by the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA), a total of 1,391,478 pilgrims have left the Kingdom until Friday, on board 5,454 flights.

http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article544770.ece

 

December 2011

The waste problem created by Islam’s holiest mosque, the Al-Masjid al-Ḥarām in Makkah-al-Mukarramah (Mecca), Saudi Arabia, has grown to an unsustainable level. The mosque’s 13 million annual pilgrims leave behind a mountain of rubbish which cannot be managed by traditional means. During the hajj, which starts with the pilgrims’ arrival in Makkah-al-Mukarramah, a breath-taking 600,000 kilos, or 4,500 cubic meters, of waste is generated each day – an unmaintainable amount for conventional waste containers. Removing this waste requires hundreds of people and an army of waste disposal trucks.

All the associated problems – not only aesthetic, but also hygienic and olfactory, caused by discarded food rotting in the heat – will be consigned to history as soon as 2013, as will the emissions and noise from the waste disposal trucks. This is all being taken care of by MariMatic’s MetroTaifun.

In the MetroTaifun system, the waste is collected from feeding points and then transferred via a 20-kilometre pipe network to a central collection point. Here the waste is compacted into containers and transported on to a landfill site.

The first equipment deliveries for our totally automated waste collection system will commence in spring 2012. The entire system will be ready to hand over to the client in spring 2013 – which is also when the first stage of a planned mosque expansion is due for completion. The project is advancing at speed, thanks to the 35,000 labourers employed to carry out the work!

Saudi Arabia has invested billions of euros in securing the safety and comfort of its pilgrims. The current project will extend the mosque area by 400,000 square metres.

It is intended that the MetroTaifun system will expand along with the advancing construction project to cover the entire mosque area. The project is worth tens of millions of euros to MariMatic Oy.

http://www.metrotaifun.com/en/case_mekka.html
 

Ottoman porticos

note: when it says ''Kaaba'' they mean ''Mataf/Haram''

29 November 2011

Turkey's deputy prime minister said on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia would send a delegation to Turkey regarding Ottoman porticos in Kaaba.

Bekir Bozdag said Saudi Arabian administration delayed its decision regarding renovation of Kaaba for four months.

"Turkish government's talks with Saudi Arabian authorities have borne fruit, and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu got a promise from his Saudi Arabian counterpart to halt demolition of porticos for four more months," Bozdag told AA correspondent in an exclusive interview.

Bozdag said Turkey and Saudi Arabia would negotiate enlarging Kaaba's area without demolishing the Ottoman porticos, and a Saudi Arabian delegation including architects and engineers as well as executives of Kaaba would visit Turkey in coming days.

"Turkish experts will propose an alternative project to Saudi Arabian administration to enlarge Kaaba's area by protecting the porticos," Bozdag said.

Ottoman Architect Sinan prepared the portico project during the rule of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. Porticos were constructed during the rule of Sultan Selim II, son of Sultan Suleyman.

Almost 300 historical buildings around Kaaba have been demolished as part of initiatives to enlarge the area around Kaaba in the last 80 years.

Within the scope of the recent project, Saudi Arabia plans to construct hotels, shopping malls, parking lots and social facilities in a 230,000-square-meter-area.

http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=...rticleID=82296

 

Ottoman Porticos





 

Umrah firms voice concerns to Haj Minister
 

16 December 2011

JEDDAH — Fifty five Umrah companies which have been suspended for more than five years are demanding to be allowed to resume their activities. They claim their suspension was imposed without sufficient reasons and are calling on the new Minister of Haj, Dr. Bandar Al-Hajjar, to overturn the ruling.

Many of the companies, which serve about 200,000 pilgrims, have already resumed their activities after a court found they had not infringed the ministry’s rules.

The minister is facing calls by Mutawifs to resolve other serious problems facing the Umrah and Haj workers. The Head of the Transportation Committee at Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Saad Al-Qurashi, called for the urgent resolution of the issues as the next Umrah season begins in a few days.

“Important issues to be resolved include increasing the accommodation capacity of internal Haj companies in Mina and the housing of pilgrims in Al-Azizyia,” Al-Qurashi said.

The minister is also being urged to roll out a new system whereby the Tawafa establishments rather than foreign Haj missions will be responsible for housing pilgrims in the holy sites.

Under this system, the ministry will be able to oversee the performance of these establishments and question them on any shortcomings in their services.

Samahir Koshak, a female Mutawif, has also demanded the immediate removal of male representative rule for female Mutawifs. She said that “male representative rule is a big obstacle facing women Mutawifs because the representative takes one-third of their income for no other reason but to follow up their transactions with the ministry’s agencies.”

Meanwhile, Shadia Ghazali, an official at the Coordination Commission of the Tawafa Establishments, is currently devising a way to allow female Mutawifs to participate in all Tawafa services. She has urged the minister to endorse this mechanism.

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index...20111216113899

وجه الرئيس العام لشؤون المسجد الحرام والمسجد النبوي الشيخ صالح بن عبدالرحمن الحصين، بتغيير مسمى باب العمرة رقم (62) بالمسجد الحرام إلى مسمى باب الملك سعود، وتغيير مسمى باب الفتح رقم (45) إلى مسمى باب الملك خالد.

ويأتي هذا التوجيه تقديرا وعرفانا لجهودهما في سبيل خدمة الإسلام والمسلمين وإعمار بيوت الله وخدمة المقدسات الإسلامية.

وأوضح لـ«عكاظ» مدير إدارة الأبواب في المسجد الحرام طلال بن صالح الثقفي، أنه تم إجراء عملية تغيير مسميات الأبواب التي وجه الرئيس العام بها، إيمانا من قبل الرئاسة بالدور الكبير للراحلين في خدمة الإسلام والمسلمين والعناية الفائقة والاهتمام المتواصل الذي كانا يقدمانه لخدمة الحرمين الشريفين والمقدسات الإسلامية.

http://www.makkawi.com/News/show.aspx?Id=2224

Google translation and with the help of Makkawi.Pk:

Change in the names of Al-Umrah Gate and Al-Fatah Gate in Masjid-al-Haram

The General Manager of the Administration of Masjid-al-Haraam and Masjid-al-Nabawi, Sheikh Saleh bin Abdulrahman Al-Hiseen has ordered to change the name of "Al-Umrah Gate (#62)" of the Holy Mosque to "The King Saud Gate", and change the name of "Al-Fatah Gate (#45) to "The King Khaled Gate".

This guidance comes appreciation and recognition for their efforts in the service of Islam and Muslims and the reconstruction of houses of God and serve the Islamic sanctities.

He told «Okaz» Director of doors at the Grand Mosque Talal bin Saleh Thaqafi, it was a process of changing the names doors that the President-General of the belief by the Presidency the significant role of the deceased in the service of Islam and Muslims and the intensive care unit and continued interest they offer, to serve the Two Holy Mosques and Islamic sanctities.


 

Al-Fatah Gate





Masjid al Haram principal Gates

 

Makkah becoming one of world’s most modern cities
 

18 December 2011

MAKKAH – Makkah is being transformed into one of the world’s most modern cities as a result of the many multi-billion riyal projects underway, said Dr. Osama Al-Bar, Mayor of Makkah.

Al-Bar said that a number of projects are close to completion, including the additions to the Grand Mosque and two tunnels for pedestrians from Al-Hujun to the Grand Mosque.

The Jabal Omar Project is expected to be completed in the near future and would provide accommodation for pilgrims close to the Grand Mosque. Many pilgrims have to rent accommodation far away from the Grand Mosque at present, making it difficult for them to attend the five daily prayers, said Al-Bar. Other mega projects underway are the SR23 billion Makkah metro that will provide public train transport for the entire city.

There are also extensions being made to Ring Roads two, three and four, costing SR200 million. A total of SR800 million is being spent on building 4,000 houses for citizens in the Umm Al-Jood area.

In addition, SR100 billion will be spent on upgrading various residential neighborhoods. A total of SR12 billion of this amount will come from the private sector.

The Bawwaba mega project, west of Makkah, will see 34 districts set up over an area of 80 million square meters. Tenders will be issued for this project.

Projects already completed include the two new floors of the Masa’a – where pilgrims perform the ritual of moving between the mounts of Al-Safa and Al-Marwa. In addition, the train service for pilgrims at the Holy Sites has been operational for the past two years, said Al-Bar.

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index...20111218113995