Saudi Gazette report

MAKKAH — Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman said that the authorities that provide various services for the Hajj pilgrims must focus on finding permanent solutions to close gaps in terms of services and facilities being offered at the holy sites during the pilgrimage season.

“The Hajj service providers must be informed that the state is always keen to provide outstanding services to the pilgrims and accordingly, they need to carry out constant follow up of the services,” he said.

Attending an interview of Al-Ekhbariya channel, the minister said that the idea is that there are pilgrims who want services, and that improving these services will boost the reputation of the country as a whole.

“There is a public responsibility that we must bear, and that we should take the initiative now to address the gap, because the next Hajj will be normal after the pandemic is over. We have an opportunity until the next pilgrimage to address all issues, whether related to the accommodation, their quality and the general situation,” he said.

Prince Abdulaziz stressed that he does not believe in temporary solutions because they enhance sustainable problems. “The temporary solution might amplify the problem, and hence addressing the issues must be comprehensive, complete and sustainable.”

He said that this year’s pilgrimage is exceptional though the number of pilgrims is limited, but it was an opportunity to learn about some issues that were repeated in the past and for which there had been no solutions. We have discovered some wrong practices inside the tents which are outside the scope of the Saudi Electricity Company’s tasks and had to find solutions in the first two days of Hajj.

The minister went further and assigned the electricity company to assume tasks that were not among its responsibilities by bringing a large number of technicians to enter the tents to treat its internal networks inside the camps, during which it was found that wrong practices were from the part of the service providers and not from the electricity company.