Registration opens for Hajj pilgrims’ housing in Mecca
Applications to be accepted until late January
Cairo: A Saudi state committee in charge of readying housing for Muslim pilgrims during next year’s Hajj in Mecca has announced the start of registration to obtain permits for buildings that will accommodate the faithful as part of early preparations for the annual Islamic pilgrimage.
The panel has called on Saudi nationals interested in obtaining or renewing permits for renting their buildings to house the pilgrims to present applications to accredited consultancy engineering offices.
The Mecca municipality set the deadline for receiving the applications until the end of Rajab, the seventh month in the lunar Islamic calendar corresponding to January 30 while the deadline for the issuance of the permits will be the end of the following month of Shaaban.
Engineering firms accredited by the municipality and the civil defence service are tasked to check the buildings to verify their compliance with the required stipulations before giving them certificates whereby related permits will be issued by the committee.
The municipality has called on the landlords interested in renting their buildings during the upcoming Hajj season to comply with the associated conditions, meet all safety requirements and forward their applications as early as possible to avoid last-minute processing and congestion.
Around 1.8 million pilgrims, including 1.6 million from abroad, performed the recent Hajj that ended last month in and around Mecca.
Hajj is one of Islam’s five obligatory duties. Muslims, who can physically and financially afford Hajj, have to perform it at least once in a lifetime.