Transportation woes in two holy cities

Abdulghani Al-Qish THE present transport system in Makkah and Madinah is woeful and does not augur well for the two holy cities, which attract nearly 10 million Haj and Umrah pilgrims annually. Private vehicles including pickup vans have taken over the transport system, which is utterly disorganized. This happens in broad day light in the absence of proper monitoring as the authorities ignore these negative practices. Imagine the chaos and confusion caused by the poor transport system around the two holy mosques. Private vehicles, most of them not roadworthy, roam around the streets offering services at different prices and compete with one another to get customers. The behavior of some drivers does not match up to the reputation of the holy cities. The authorities should have licensed specialized companies to provide transport service to the guests of God at fixed rates to avoid the present despicable situation and miserable scenes. We are supposed to provide integrated services to the pilgrims and visitors in Makkah and Madinah. Before getting out, pilgrims shall inform the hotel authorities where they want to go and what kind of transport they require. The hotel will then make arrangements by contacting a transport company that operates in the city. The pilgrim will feel comfortable when informed that the taxi would take from him a specific amount and that the driver would not cheat. Pilgrims and visitors traveling between the two holy cities also face a lot of difficulties due to the disorganized transport system. If any of them want to visit the historical sites related to the life of the Prophet (peace be upon him) specific vehicles that charge specified rates should be made available for the purpose. A lack of integrated services is the main issue. As a result we don’t see the result of government’s massive endeavors to provide consummate services to the pilgrims. The Transport Ministry issues license to taxi companies and ask them to operate meters while running. But it does not follow up whether the taxis use meters as instructed. Many taxis have removed the meters to exploit customers. The Traffic Department’s main duty is to prevent vehicles from entering the central zone of the two holy cities just before prayer times. After that they allow private taxis to operate illegally. Some drivers take SR150 for transporting pilgrims from the Prophet’s Mosque to the Quba Mosque, which is located just four kilometers away. The authorities responsible for the development of Makkah and Madinah have so far failed to improve the transport system in the two cities. They have failed to build wide roads around the holy mosques as well as to set up transport offices to provide necessary services to the guests of God. These authorities stand helpless leaving everything to the traffic and transport departments. This situation demands the setting up of specialized companies to provide travel and tourism services inside the Kingdom. Quick measures should be taken to set up such companies as Madinah has been selected as the tourism capital of the Islamic world for 2017. At present individuals and organizations exploit pilgrims and visitors using various tricks. Taxis do not have any fixed rates and do not respond when asked to start the meter reading. Above all, the victims would not know where to convey their grievances to protect their rights. This will surely tarnish the image of the Kingdom. The shuttle service that was introduced several years ago requires special roads. The system has failed to solve the problems of those visiting the two holy mosques. Domestic and Gulf pilgrims become prey to the cheaters when they intend to visit historic places in Makkah and Madinah. I hope the authorities would intervene immediately to prevent this blatant exploitation of pilgrims by reorganizing the transport and tourism sectors in the two holy cities.