Jeddah, August 14: As the Holy Month of Ramadan approaches the Grand Mosque in Makkah is being prepared to accommodate more pilgrims, according to Yousif Bin Abdullah Al Wabil, deputy undersecretary of the Grand Mosque affairs for services.
The northern courtyards of the Grand Mosque are being readied to accommodate 150,000 people on the Al Ghazza side and 50,000 on the Al Shubaikah side. The courtyards will have high-quality carpets, Zamzam water containers, microphones, and speakers to transmit the prayers and, for the first time, lectures given by Ulema from inside the mosque.
There will also be Dawa offices in the courtyards to distribute copies of the Holy Quran.
The location of the demolished Ajyad Hospital has been allocated to security and services units in the Holy Month of Ramadan.
Meanwhile, Dr. Muhammad Jastinya, deputy director general of the directorate of health affairs in Makkah, said that as concerns grow over the swine flu pandemic that has claimed the lives of nine people so far in Saudi Arabia, the directorate is making every effort to provide easily accessible and efficient medical services for the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims expected to visit the Haram during Ramadan. He said that a new medical centre will be opened in As-Safa Tower, close to the Grand Mosque, on August 21.
It will have a 20-bed intensive care unit (ICU), a 20-bed emergency ward with a women’s section, and an ICU for cardiovascular patients.
Jastinya said four dispensaries have opened to compensate for the closure of Ajyad General Hospital. These are located at the King Abdul Aziz an Umrah gates and on the first floor of Ajiyad gate where there are two dispensaries.
All the medical facilities have specialist doctors and paramedical staff, in addition to operation theatres.
Moreover, a fleet of ambulances will be ready to take critically ill patients to Noor Specialist Hospital or to King Abdul Aziz Hospital.
There are 75 dispensaries in Makkah.
-Agencies