Saudi Gazette report

MAKKAH — The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has instructed the domestic Hajj service providing companies and establishments not to place “VIP” stickers on buses that are used to transport pilgrims during the upcoming Hajj pilgrimage.

The ministry also directed that the capacity of each bus does not exceed the number of pilgrims allotted to it, and there should be one reserve bus for every 500 pilgrims.

These instructions are contained in the manual of regulatory procedures issued by the ministry for the domestic Hajj service providing companies and establishments for the current year.

The service providers should have obtained a permit for the entry of licensed buses to the Holy Sites. The buses are required to carrying out periodic inspection. It is also not at all allowed to rent out buses from outside the Kingdom under any circumstances.

The buses should also be not used for the purpose of domestic transportation of passengers between cities or within the holy sites other than the designated transportation of pilgrims.

The ministry also noted that all old buses with a high rate of exhaust emissions will be seized at the entry points to Makkah.

The traffic police will verify, through the mobile device, the exhaust ratio of such buses, and based on that, the vehicle will be seized or a penalty for the violation will be issued against it. As for such buses located inside Makkah, they will be kept at a location and not allow them to move out so as to avoid the pollution caused by them to the environment.

The directives in the manual also include identifying the domestic pilgrims, to be carried by each licensed bus, and writing their names in the transport statement that contains the pilgrims’ personal data, as well as the Hajj permit number, the name of the company or establishment providing the service and its license number. Each bus should carry one original and two photo copies of the automated transport statement with duly stamped with the seal of the establishment. These statements shall be delivered at the entry points to Makkah after ensuring that it includes the following data -name of the pilgrim, his Hajj permit number, name of the contracting company or establishment, vehicle type and model, plate number and driver’s name.