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| November 11, 2003 | Tuesday | Ramazan 15, 1424 |
Accommodation for 64,000 Haj pilgrims arranged
ISLAMABAD, Nov 10: The religious affairs ministry has arranged accommodation for 64,000 of about 70,000 intending pilgrims who have opted for official lodging facilities in Makkah and Madina during the Haj in 2004.
Religious Affairs Secretary Rashid Mehmood Ansari told APP on Monday that the process to acquire accommodation for the remaining 6,000 pilgrims would be completed before the Haj.
He said that about 60,000 intending pilgrims would make their own residential arrangements.
He asked the intending pilgrims who had opted for private accommodation to furnish their documents to become eligible for the Haj visa.
“The authenticated residential accommodation documents, attested by the Haj director-general, Jeddah, can be submitted at any of the Haj directorates in Islamabd, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar or Quetta before Nov 15,” he said.
Replying to a question, he said the private tour operators had been insisting that Haj operation be privatized. “We have given them an opportunity of making private accommodation arrangements for 60,000 pilgrims this year,” he said. He said the tour operators must fulfil the responsibility to the satisfaction of the pilgrims.
He said the ministry had done everything possible to facilitate tour operators in hiring buildings in Makkah and Madina.
A Saudi delegation visited the country in October to review the Haj arrangements.
“We got a waiver from the stringent Saudi regulations which will be applicable to all the countries except Pakistan,” the official said.
He said the new Saudi regulations would be applicable for Pakistan from 2005 instead of 2004.
The Haj flights would begin on Dec 25 or 26, he said and added: “We have completed our negotiations with the Pakistan International Air-lines and the Saudi Airlines in this regard.”
Mr Ansari said that about 120,000 pilgrims would be airlifted by the PIA and 10,000 would travel by the Saudi Airlines. He said five gateways had been made for lifting the pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.
He said the ministry was recruiting seasonal Haj staff to work with the personnel deputed in the Haji camps to assist the pilgrims in getting travellers’ cheques, passports and tickets.
Personnel of the Haj directorate would be present at the Jeddah International Airport to receive and guide the intending pilgrims, he said.
He said vaccine for meningitis had been imported and stored with the National Institute of Health and all the pilgrims would be vaccinated before their departure.
He said the ministry would distribute booklets containing administrative instructions and information about the Manasik-i-Haj among the pilgrims.
He said the travel programme would be communicated to the intending pilgrims after the Eid.
He said the pilgrims would have to report at the respective Haji camps, where all the relevant departments had set up their branches.
All the residential buildings and training halls at the camps have been renovated where a two-day stay for intending pilgrims has been made mandatory for imparting training about the Manasik-i-Haj.
Medical checkup of the elderly, handicapped and pregnant intending pilgrims has been made mandatory and those suffering from fatal diseases will not be allowed to proceed for Haj.
Responding to a question, he said efforts would be made to resolve the problem of the women pilgrims whose companions had not succeeded in the ballot.—APP
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