JEDDAH, 14 December 2002 — Saudi authorities will start issuing Haj permits to both Saudis and expatriates today, informed sources told Arab News.
Only those individuals who have not performed Haj during the past five years and have contracted with licensed domestic Haj service agents are entitled to receive the permits.
The sources expressed hope that the performance of Haj service agents this year would be much better than before as they were selected on the basis of certain criteria approved by Haj Minister Iyad Madani. The agents should have a capital of at least SR500,000 and appoint five Saudis to serve 100 pilgrims.
Meanwhile, the Haj Ministry will start distributing 287 fireproof tents in Mina among the domestic pilgrim agents and companies today, Al-Madinah newspaper reported.
The ministry has set some conditions to distribute the tents, especially those close to the Jamrat Bridge.
“It will consider the performance of the agents, their administrative efficiency and the number of branches in various parts of the Kingdom and workers while distributing the tents,” the paper said.
The ministry has classified the locations of the tents to Group-A, B, C, D and E and will be given away at the rate of SR7,500, SR6,250, SR5,000, SR3,500 and SR1,500 respectively.
The domestic pilgrim agents will pay 30 percent of the cost now and the balance before Jan. 15. The ministry will start handing over the tents on Jan. 18.
As many as 2.5 million pilgrims — more than half of them from abroad — are expected to perform Haj this season, which is scheduled to start on Feb. 9. The government has stepped up preparations for the Haj, the largest annual gathering of Muslims in the world.
Southeast Asian countries are expected to send more than 300,000 pilgrims, according to Ali Yaseen, chairman of the Tawafa organization for Southeast Asian pilgrims.
The first group of Indonesian pilgrims will arrive on Jan. 9. As many as 200,000 Indonesians are to perform Haj this Hijrah year.
Yaseen said his organization has completed all preparations to receive the pilgrims in coordination with the Haj Ministry and other related departments.
“We’ll mobilize all our human and material resources in the service of pilgrims,” Yaseen told Al-Madinah.
The Tawafa organization for Southeast Asian pilgrims, he said, has conducted a number of courses to train its field workers and enable them to deal with pilgrims in the best manner.
He said special arrangements have been made for quick transportation of Southeast Asian pilgrims between Mina and Arafat.
