All sectors prepared in Saudi Arabia for successful, safe Hajj

Saudi Arabia has alerted all sectors in the country to get well prepared for a successful and safe Hajj season that will officially begin on Oct. 25, local media reported on Tuesday. Preparation for this year started long back with many organizations coming together to ensure the best services for millions of pilgrims from all over the world. Development projects worth more than 290 million U.S. dollars have been implemented at the holy sites in Mecca as part of the government\'s efforts to enhance facilities for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, according to the Arab News. For the best interests of the pilgrims, Saudi Arabia has promised to stand firm against any act that jeopardize the security of this Hajj season. \"The security planning of this season started from the end of the last Hajj,\" Commander of Hajj Security Forces, Major-General Saeed Al Khileawi, told Al Sharq Al Awsat newspaper last month. The commander assured that there are many precaution measures set out to ensure the safety of the pilgrims and a smooth flow of people into the holy sites. \"Security personnel would be deployed everywhere to maintain security and manage traffic and movement of pedestrians,\" he said. More than 25,700 civil defense officers, supported by 6,900 vehicles and 19 choppers, have been deployed in the holy sites, Commander of Hajj Civil Defense, Major-General Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Qarni, told Al Riyadh newspaper this week. \"We have trained the officers to deal with 12 presumptive risks in various sites in Mecca to ensure the highest level of safety for this season,\" he affirmed. The sufficient preparation helped civil defense to efficiently deal with a fire in a room in a nine-storey building on Ibrahim Al Khalil road in Mecca on Sunday. A total of 13 pilgrims sustained minor burns and 179 were rescued. Besides securing the holy site, Saudi Arabia has promised a contagious-diseases free hajj season with pledges to eliminate the risk of the new corona virus, according to Saudi News Agency. The Health Ministry has launched an action plan at 16 health centers close to the border to prevent the entry of contagious diseases into the country, the Undersecretary of the Health Ministry for Public Health told the agency this month. Those centers provide information to all pilgrims in various languages as well as medical care upon their arrival and departure. \"The centers are equipped with medicines, vaccinations and ambulances..., They operate round the clock until the end of this season,\" the undersecretary highlighted. The majority of the pilgrims have arrived in Mecca and the Hajj season will end next week.