More pilgrims to perform low-cost Haj this year

The Ministry of Haj has more than doubled the number of pilgrims in low-cost Haj program from 17,000 last year to 41,000 this year.
Abdul-Rahman An-Nafi, assistant undersecretary for Haj affairs, said in a statement that contrary to what a section of media claims, the Ministry of Haj has not been informed of any country wishing to reduce the number of their pilgrims.
He added that there are 150,000 pilgrims in the regular program.
He said that 53 locations were allocated for the pilgrims from within the Kingdom in the low-cost Haj program to enable all companies offering to choose the locations they are willing to offer pilgrims and the capacity of each location.
He said that all companies and institutions are included in the allocation phase according to the numerical criteria, and those willing to offer their services in the low-cost Haj program are permitted to enter this phase after agreeing to specified services and rates. This will be done provided that the ministry has more than one camp available, in addition to the camps allocated for this phase, to accommodate the remaining number of pilgrims they are authorized to serve pursuant to the license.
Similar to last year's Haj season, the ministry will continue to implement the decision to lower the classification of camps of incomplete services (with limited kitchen and bathroom facilities).
He underlined that the guidelines ensure that the participating establishments in the program are committed not to exceed the following prices: SR5,000 for category A (1), SR4,800 for category A (2), SR4,400 for category B, SR4,150 for category C, SR3,600 for category D (1), SR3,100 for category D (2) and SR 2,500 for category E.
The mechanism also enforces several regulations regarding the accommodations of pilgrims including clearance from the Civil Defense, contracting with catering services licensed by the general directorate of environmental health at the Makkah Municipality within the categories A, B and C, pursuant to the applicable regulations and conditions of the Kingdom and following the ministry of health guidelines.
The ministry said it has also ensured that the procedures for guides for this year's companies and institutions for the pilgrims from within the Kingdom would be released early and in record time.
The camps would be distributed early and all the companies and institutions would be able to provide services to the pilgrims and for the pilgrims to be able to contract with companies early and know the locations of their camps.
This is the first time that such a procedure has been applied so early, he noted.