Salman Al-Sulami

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

 

MAKKAH — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has approved the establishment of an integrated Haj terminal in Madinah where pilgrims will be received, accommodated and regrouped, Haj Minister Dr. Bandar Al-Hajjar announced.



"The terminal will house all government departments concerned with Haj services. The Ministry of Finance is already executing this terminal through the Social Security Fund," he said.



The minister was talking to a number of intellectuals, journalists and mutawwifeen at a special function held on Monday evening at the Makkah Literary Club. "Another integrated Haj terminal will also be established in Makkah," he said.



Hajjar said that the blueprint of the Makkah terminal has already been prepared. "When these two terminals become functional, Haj will be easier and not an ordeal," he said.



The minister highlighted the Kingdom's efforts in providing exquisite services to pilgrims and said as a result of these efforts the number of pilgrims has doubled.



He revealed that the ministry has uncovered a number of fake Haj campaigns and warned citizens and expatriates against falling victim to these unlicensed companies. "You should visit the ministry's website and choose your Haj campaign. If a Haj company is not registered on the ministry's site, it is fake," he said.



Hajjar praised the success of the previous Umrah season and said there were no pilgrims squatting on the ground or under the bridges. "The number of overstayers after Umrah has gone down from 50,000 to 9,000," he said.



He said there are 205 Haj service-providing companies for domestic pilgrims and added that the ministry was making efforts to reduce their fares.



The minister declined to comment on the recent court rulings against the ministry. "The ministry prefers not to talk about issues which are being looked at by the judiciary," he said.



Hajjar said a number of government department buildings were shifted from Mina to a special complex built outside Makkah near the passport checkpoint along the Jeddah-Makkah Expressway.



"This will provide additional space in Mina to accommodate about 250,000 pilgrims.”



He said the ministry would soon launch a program on its website to instruct pilgrims about Haj rituals through an electronic game in various languages.”



Meanwhile, undersecretary of the ministry Dr. Sahl Al-Sabban said the ministry is considering using fire-resistance tents in Arafat, similar to those in Madinah, from next year.



Medical facilities at JIP



Around 425 pilgrims have utilized the medical facilities at  Jeddah Islamic Port (JIP).



The head of the medical monitoring center at JIP, Dr. Adel Turkustani, said that the health condition of all arriving pilgrims is good, and no epidemic diseases have been recorded.



He said that since pilgrims started arriving, 273 ships arriving from various corners of the world have been inspected.