MAKKAH, 11 March 2007 — The campaign to decide new board members of the General Organization for the Tawafa Establishments, an umbrella body under which various Haj guide organizations operate, is currently in its final week.
The election will be held on March 17 from 7 p.m. to 12 noon. An average of 400 members from each Tawafa organization will be eligible to vote.
At present, it is unclear which of the various Tawafa establishments will dominate the board, but according to reports the Tawafa Establishment for South Asian Pilgrims is “definitely on the list.” Adnan Kateb, head of South Asian Tawafa, is incidentally the head of the current board.
The Haj Ministry has rejected three out of five nominated panels. Those rejected include Al-Khair, Al-Tadamon and Al-Mehna. Panels that have been accepted include Labbaik and Al-Tawafa from the Arab Tawafa institutions.
Results of the election are set to be announced toward the end of this month.
Talal Mahadr, Al-Tawafa group coordinator, said the boards are selected according to certain criteria that include serving pilgrims in the best way possible, improving pilgrims’ awareness, developing means of hospitality and improving accommodation at holy sites. “One of the main objectives in our election campaign was to encourage the positive roles of the organization to serve pilgrims in the best possible way by raising awareness, proficiency and financial levels,” he added.
Wafa Mahadr, head of Al-Tawafa’s women committee, said female guides will also be able to participate in the elections. “We met with 400 women in Jeddah to give them an overview of our program,” she said.
