MINA: Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, who is also chairman of the Central Haj Committee, said this year’s Haj was a success and congratulated everyone, including Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, Crown Prince Sultan, Interior Minister Prince Naif, who is the chairman of the Supreme Haj Committee, and all those who strove for a successful and safe pilgrimage.
“I offer my heartfelt congratulations to you all hoping to make the Haj in the coming years a greater success,” Prince Khaled Al-Faisal said in a press conference yesterday in Mina.
Speaking about the enforcement of the Haj permit system aimed at checking the influx of domestic pilgrims for Haj, Prince Khaled said: “‘The No Permit, No Haj’ campaign apparently succeeded partially only and we had never anticipated its hundred percent success this year. However, I hope that the campaign would achieve remarkable success in the coming years.”
Regarding the lack of space in Mina to accommodate all pilgrims, the prince said: “The only solution for the accommodation problem is construction of more buildings in Mina. We have seen the success of multistoried residential buildings in Mina this year.”
On the transport problem at the holy sites the prince said the tenders for the rail construction at the holy sites would be opened after Haj. He said the problem of squatting should be studied in detail and assured that the high prices charged by domestic Haj establishments would be studied and a report would be submitted to the interior minister.
