Saudi Arabia: Facilities to deliver Zamzam to Hajj pilgrims unveiled
Over 950 workers, fleet of vehicles mobilised to serve the pilgrims at holy sites
Cairo: Facilities have been unveiled to make Zamzam water accessible to Muslim pilgrims in Saudi Arabia where thousands of people are arriving ahead of Hajj pilgrimage due later this month.
The Saudi Al Zamazemah Company has mobilised its human resources and set up nine field centres operating around the clock to deliver Zamzam right to residences of pilgrims in the holy city of Makkah.
“The field service centres are working around the clock in Makkah and the holy places manned by over 950 employees overseen by a group of supervisors and centre managers,” said Rayan Zamazmi, the deputy supervisor of the season works.
He added that a fleet of 137 trucks are mobilised to transport Zamzam to the pilgrims’ houses according to the highest safety standards.
Last week, the company launched an electronic platform with the aim of delivering Zamzam packets to pilgrims’ houses.
Robots were used during last year’s Hajj pilgrimage to distribute Zamzam bottles at the Grand Mosque in Makkah as part of precautions against COVID-19.
Zamzam is also popular with overseas pilgrims who present it as a gift to relatives and friends after home return.
Upcoming Hajj is set to mark the return of the numbers of the pilgrims from across the globe to pre-epidemic levels. Saudi Arabia has maximised preparations for Hajj, one of Islam’s five obligatory duties.
The kingdom has said there will be no limits on the numbers of pilgrims from around the world for the upcoming Hajj season, reversing earlier restrictions prompted by the global pandemic.
In the past two years, Saudi Arabia downsized the numbers of Muslims allowed to perform the Hajj rites to prevent spread of COVID-19.
Around 2.5 million Muslims used to attend Hajj annually in the pre-pandemic times. Muslims, who can physically and financially afford Hajj, have to perform it at least once in a lifetime.