IDB Chief tours high-tech slaughtering facility 3 Mina

Speaking about the IDB’s operation, Khalid A. Nazer, information and
external relations chief, told Arab News that it had launched an
online service three years ago to enable pilgrims to buy coupons in
advance for sacrificial animals. “This year, through our site —
www.adahi.org — we sold 30,000 coupons.”


Nazer also said that services were provided throughout the year.
Anybody wanting to sacrifice an animal can avail themselves of this
service.


Most pilgrims who choose not to perform the sacrifice personally
purchase the coupons, which cost about SR395 this year. They are thus
spared the problems of slaughtering and distributing the meat of the
animals. This year the IDB sold 700,000 sacrificial coupons and it
purchased 650,000 sheep, plus a large number of camels and cows.
Slaughtering so many animals over a three-day period is an immense
task requiring highly sophisticated facilities and substantial
resources.


In 2001, Saudi Arabia built the world's biggest slaughterhouse in
Mina at a cost of SR470 million ($125 million). This state-of-the-art
facility sprawling over a 500,000 sq. meter area is able to slaughter
200,000 sheep a day utilizing some 10,000 workers. They work in two
12-hour shifts.

--SPA