Government | Tuesday 23 August, 2016 6:12 am |

With the beginning of the Haj season this year, the whole Kingdom, with its men and women, are preparing to achieve a new record success in crowd management and in the delivery of the finest services to make the biggest crowds in the history of any city as comfortable as possible.
The delivery of services begins with the opening of the field offices of Tawafa establishments to receive and welcome pilgrims from outside the Kingdom. Housing units also opened their doors again, along with the temporary shops operating only during the Haj season to benefit from this influx of people and Hajis who mostly buy gifts and souvenirs for their family members, neighbors, friends and loved ones back home, according to a report in a local newspaper.
Mutawif (pilgrim guide) Ahmad Saleh Halabi said on the preparedness of all the mutawifeen for this Haj season: “The work of those finest young people continues day and night so that the guests of God the Almighty enjoy peace of mind and tranquility while performing the holy rituals and go back home laden with the best memories.”
Every year, he added, field service offices begin work by opening their doors, with plenty of time before the beginning of the pilgrimage season, to provide the necessities, communication devices and equipment, in addition to preparing the identification cards for the office.
“During this Haj season, the Tawafa establishments have gone side by side with the Ministry of Haj and Umrah in developing the level of services. The first such cooperation efforts involve responding to the ministry’s decision to apply the electronic bracelet system, which in addition to defining the identity of the pilgrim, also contains personal and medical data, which will greatly help in administering the necessary medical help in emergencies if needed. The bracelet is connected with GPS system and is water resistant.”
The other development witnessed during this Haj season includes the establishment of a unified platform to electronically monitor the movement of buses of the companies that are responsible to transport the pilgrims under the umbrella of the Saudi General Syndicate of Cars.
The platform includes gathering the data on the movement of the buses transporting pilgrims from the multiple systems at the firms and establishments to transport pilgrims, then projecting such data on a unified map at the syndicate to allow officials at the Ministry of Haj and Umrah and the general syndicate to track the movement of buses inside cities and on the road networks to take immediately the necessary measures in the event of an emergency or accident. There are 16,200 buses included in this project.
Halabi said the ministry ended its coordination efforts with the grouping of pilgrims’ committees and the relevant authorities in the Haj and Umrah system to facilitate grouping operations in a way to ensure that the pilgrims perform their devotions and perform the holy rituals easily and with contentment.
“The program includes evaluation indicators and measurement for the field work, and uses the tools and techniques to make the grouping a regulated and institutionalized seasonal work,” he explained.
This also includes the implementation of the standards and regulatory parameters in terms of the tables for grouping the pilgrims, taking into account the grouping tracks and crowd movement system, the imperatives to commit to the timetables in place and the other related factors.