His Excellency the President of Umm Al-Qura University(UQU), and Chairman of the Supervisory Committee for the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Expansion Project of the Grand Mosque,  Dr. Bakri Bin M'atoog Bin Bakri Al-Assas, reviewed  the model of smart barrier of crowd management developed domestically by the technical committee for the expansion of the Grand Mosque. This came during a meeting at his office in the university city in Abidia on Wednesday 11th of Shaaban 1437H with the head of the committee Dr. Faisal Wafaa and members of the committee.

 
Dr. Faisal explained that this e-barrier was invented and manufactured by the members and engineers of the technical committee depending on the experiments they faced during last years. He added that contrary to the traditional barriers, the new one can be run automatically in a flexible manner at the location decided by the officials of crowd management department, besides many other advantages including that "its shape and appearance are consistent with the environment, architecture, and spirituality of the grand mosque. Its streamlined design can accommodate pressure and movement of crowds without any changes on the Mataf ground, its manufacturing material can accommodate Makkah atmosphere without having its color or shape changed as a result of the environmental factors, it can be easily operated and maintained, it can be easily stored, dismantled and installed, its light weight helps moving it easily from a place to another, and that its height is between 1.20 to 1.40 cm without obstructing vision". 

He indicated that the project will be initially applied to the Mataf area to organize crowd movement inside the Mataf and routes leading to it. 

In another context, the President of Umm Al-Qura University (UQU), and Chairman of the Supervisory Committee for the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Expansion Project of the Grand Mosque, Dr. Bakri Bin M'atoog Bin Bakri Al-Assas, launched the program of the technical committee for achieving Saudi vision 2030 and what has been done by the committee to achieve this vision, besides receiving the report of the conclusion of the works of the temporary Mataf. 

"Despite having the temporary Mataf in a crowded area, its removal works completed without reporting any incidences due to the awareness of the engineers of the technical committee involved in the removal works of the occupational hazards and their commitment to highest safety standards", he explained, adding that all the engineers involved in the monitoring of safety measures are Saudi citizens graduated from Saudi colleges of engineering.  

  
On his part, Dr. Assas extended his sincere congratulations to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdul Aziz, the Crown Prince, Deputy Premier, and Minister of Interior, Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdul-Aziz, and Deputy Crown Prince, Second deputy Premier, and Minister of Defense, Prince Mohamed Bin Salman, on occasion of conclusion of removal of the temporary Mataf without reporting of any incidences despite the large crowds witnessed in the Mataf area. He explained that the participation of the committee focused on the application of safety requirements, occupational health measures, besides following up implementation of the plan approved for the removal of the Mataf by Saudi staff qualified and trained at a high level of proficiency to serve their nation.

  
He added that the program of the technical committee focuses on two pivots: the Project Management Office (PMO) with its tasks including; following up work process, creating, unifying and developing forms and measures according to the procedures approved by the top management in all projects, making sure that tasks are being processed in line with the adopted priorities, submitting initiatives to solve problems faced by the engineering department, as well as creating performance measurement reports. He pointed out that tasks are planned, followed up and electronically scheduled by the PMO, given that the priority of each task, implantation period are determined, and the work process is followed up in line with the objectives of the top management and to enable officials and decision makers to follow up work process through specially designed dashboards to provide instant information and avoid mistakes in this regard. While the other pivot, he added, is dealing with the performance measurement indicators of the field tasks implemented by the committee affiliates to find out faults, and boost efficiency in a manner which optimizes their performance. “After meeting ISO 9001-20088 standards, the committee has adopted performance indicators to measure the performance of its employees in ensuring concrete quality and applying safety measures in the assigned projects”, he elaborated. 

Concluding, Dr. Al-Assas said that: to achieve 2030 vision program, the committee depends on highly scientifically qualified Saudi staff to participate in human development in the Kingdom and to achieve the optimal investment of nation’s sons. He praised the effective role of the members of the technical committee for enabling national establishments to participate in achieving the vision of the wise leadership in serving pilgrims.