Ordinary pilgrims may find it harder to attend the regular prayers at the Grand Mosque in coming years, as residential projects under construction in the central area of the holy city will only be affordable to the wealthy. About 800 hotels and residential facilities have been demolished in the Shamiya, Shubaika and Gazza districts in the central area of Makkah as part of new development projects under way there. Consequently, pilgrims had to be accommodated in far away neighbourhoods, such as Al-Hamra, Rusaifah Street, the Second Ring Road, Hajj Street, Al-Jazair Street and the Industrial Zone. Muhsin Al-Habshi, an official of a tawafa establishment, said the accommodation plan for pilgrims had undergone a radical change with the demolition of old buildings and the launching of new residential projects in the central area of Makkah. He expressed fears that the new buildings would be affordable only to the wealthy. The proposed expansion of the Grand Mosque would necessitate construction of new low-cost residential towers in the city’s suburbs. Several Asian Hajj delegations arranged their accommodations this year in remote districts because of the comparatively cheap rates there.
UNAFFORDABLE HAJJ ACCOMMODATION
Ordinary pilgrims may find it harder to attend the regular prayers at the Grand Mosque in coming years, as residential projects under construction in the central area of the holy city will only be affordable to the wealthy.
