MADINAH: With two million pilgrims anticipated to arrive this year, Saudi Arabia is expediting its 2023 haj operation plan, which was initiated at the end of last May.
In order to accommodate the pilgrims’ transportation demands this season, the General Syndicate of Cars Saudi Arabia announced that it has prepared roughly 18,000 buses and 25,000 drivers.
The first group of foreign pilgrims arriving in Madinah and travelling to Makkah began on 6 Zulhijjah (May 26), according to a statement made by Mazen Tharwat, director of the association’s chapter in Medina, to the Saudi News Agency (SPA). A total of 26 buses were allocated.
“This number is still increasing. According to statistics as of Wednesday, around 700 buses have been mobilised to transport 30,000 pilgrims to Makkah,” he said.
Dr Tawfiq Fawzan Al-Rabiah, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Haj and Umrah, announced earlier this year that the country is prepared to welcome two million pilgrims during the current Haj season, reported SPA.
The Madina Health Cluster yesterday also reported increasing the number of beds at the King Salman bin Abdulaziz Medical City treatment centre and King Fahad Hospital here to 22 per cent in preparation for the increase in the number of pilgrims coming to Madinah this year.
The health infrastructure in Madinah for the haj season this time includes nine large hospitals, three emergency treatment centres each, health control centres in the main ports, seasonal health centres and mobile medical teams to treat the pilgrims.
More than 9,900 employees have been mobilised, according to Medina Municipality, to help regulate food quality and safety as well as make sure that sanitation and cleanliness standards are at the highest possible level.
It entails keeping an eye on how public markets, shopping malls, cafes, restaurants, and catering kitchens are run.
According to the most recent data made public by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Haj and Umrah, as of June 7 there were 434,980 pilgrims of all nations who had arrived in Madinah to undertake this year’s Hajj. – BERNAMA
