Seven new projects for holy sites

Seven new development projects, with a total cost of about SR6.1 billion, will be implemented at the holy sites before the next Haj season in October, the undersecretary of the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs told local daily Al-Madinah yesterday. Habib Zain Al-Abdeen, head of the central administration for development projects at the holy sites, said over the next three years, 36,000 new toilets would be built. "Two years after that 62,000 new toilets will be built in Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah to put an end to the current shortage," he explained. He said each toilet would be accommodated in a two-story building. A blue color would indicate the men’s rooms and pink for the women's. As part of the new developments, Zain Al-Abdeen said the third floor of the Jamrat facility would be connected to Al-Muaisim area near Mina and the Aziziyah district in Makkah would be linked to the second floor of the facility. "The current slaughterhouse for cows and camels in Mina will be shifted to Al-Muaisim which will be linked by a road to Al-Sharaie district in Makkah," he said. The undersecretary said there are also projects to facilitate arrival to the train stations at the holy sites.