Medina (ANTARA News) - The Saudi Government is to send meat of 17,000 sheep collected during the 2018 hajj season to Muslims in Indonedia, General Supervisor of the Saudi Project for Utilization of Hajj Meat, Rahimi Ahmed Rahimi, has said.

"Several days ago we signed a memorandum of understanding on the matter with the Indonesian Government. This is for the first time, we send meat for sacrifice to Muslims in Indonesia," Rahimi told foreign journalists who visited the office of the Mecca City Government recently.

He pointed out that in every hajj season, the Saudi Government receives and handles more than one million animals for sacrifice from hajj pilgrims and distributes the meat locally and globally under the program of the Saudi Project for Utilization of Hajj Meat.

Since 2003, the Saudi Government has been sending sacrificial meat to economically-weak Muslims, he said, adding that as many as 35 countries have so far signed memorandums of understanding with the government of the Kingdom on the distribution of sacrificial meat.

Besides being sent to Indonesia, the meat from the hajj pilgrims is also delivered to Egypt, Tunisia, Mauritania, Ethiopia and Syria.

Most of the sacrificial meat, which is packaged with high technology to keep its hygiene, is distributed by sea and land, he said.

Rahimi, who is also the Chairman Board of Directors for Saudi Gelatin and Capsules Co., said the sending process of the meat takes five to ten days depending on the locations of the receiving countries.

Under the support of the Islamic Development Bank, the Saudi Government bears all the costs of the process of slaughtering and delivering the sacrificial meat abroad.

In an effort to deal with more than one million sacrifice meat, the Saudi Government has prepared eight professional slaughter houses completed with latest technology to make the process of slaughtering fast but meeting the Islamic rules.

(T.KR-LWA/A/R013/R013)

Reporter: antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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