Source : Arab news / 01 Sep 2014

The Makkah Municipality is finalizing Haj operational plans to ensure public health and hygiene standards in the holy city and pilgrimage sites during the busy and crowded upcoming season.

Barbers and slaughterhouses in Makkah will be closely and constantly inspected, according to municipality officials.

“We are deploying more than 23,000 personnel to implement the Haj plan with support teams from the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, other municipalities, the Department of Public Security and the Boy Scouts,” Makkah Mayor Osama Al-Bar said in a statement on Sunday.

The mayor said that several scouts and students from universities and health colleges will be appointed as temporary health observers.

He said that the municipality is equipped to deal with any circumstances, including rain in and around the holy sites.

Al-Bar said that in addition to cleaning operations, inspectors would closely monitor markets, shops and eateries in the area. Personnel will be deployed in densely populated areas around the clock in two shifts, he said.

Some 14,000 cleaners will work during Haj, of whom 7,500 will be working inside Makkah and 6,500 at the holy sites.

These cleaners will be equipped with more than 1,000 electronic cleaning machines and other heavy equipment.

The mayor said that the municipality will use 1,240 automated compressors and 131 stores to contain more than 14,000 tons of garbage in Mina.

“Most of this equipment and waste containers are environmentally friendly and easy to use in crowded areas,” he said.

“The municipality is expecting that 400,000 animals will be slaughtered in Makkah. As such, the municipality will seek the services of veterinarians, who will ensure that sacrificial animals are fit for consumption.”

A total of 57 checkpoints will be set up at various routes to check the animals, he said.

Public health teams will closely monitor 33,000 permanent shops and eateries in Makkah, in addition to more than 2,200 seasonal grocers. Holy sites have 643 temporary shops, kiosks and bakeries, in addition to several barber shops with 1,100 chairs combined.

Bathroom facilities, tunnels, overpasses and drainage networks will also be checked regularly.

Al-Bar said that the municipality will establish 27 operational support centers at the holy sites and throughout Makkah to facilitate services.