MAKKAH, 30 December 2006 — The head of the committee dealing with transportation issues at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry has said that many buses from abroad enter the Kingdom illegally during the Haj season offering unlicensed and unregulated transport services to pilgrims.
“We believe that more than 2,000 buses have entered the Kingdom carrying seasonal Haj laborers, but the real motive of bringing in these workers is to get into the business of shuttling pilgrims between the holy sites of Makkah and Madinah,” said Ali Hassan Al-Nagur.
The JCCI believes that these gypsy buses enter the Kingdom carrying a handful of workers who have been given a two-month seasonal work visa. Then, after dropping off the workers, the buses head to the holy cities to cash in on the high seasonal demand for transportation services.
“This causes a lot of problems and creates confusion and complicates the traffic situation,” said Al-Nagur, who also pointed out that these unregulated buses are old and are likely to break down, exacerbating traffic problems.
There is a lot of opportunity for buses from neighboring countries, not to mention local ones, to cash in on during the Haj season.
Tawafa organizations and licensed Haj tour operators pay as much as SR30,000 ($8,000) to hire buses for transporting pilgrims on Arafat Day alone. Bus drivers can earn additionally by offering their services on other days, such as for side trips to historical sites.
Al-Nagur estimates that about 50,000 pilgrims from neighboring countries arrive for Haj by bus, the largest contingent coming from the country that shares the largest border with Saudi Arabia: Iraq.
The JCCI’s transportation chief called on authorities to limit the entry of these buses to the Kingdom to mitigate traffic congestion.
“Some of these bus drivers are first-timers, untrained and unfamiliar with the local roads,” he said. “And because they aren’t licensed, they don’t have the Haj tour guide that’s mandatory for obtaining permission to operate a bus service during the Haj.”
