RIYADH, 16 February — Interior Minister Prince Naif, president of the Supreme Haj Committee, has issued the order of approval to the conditions for issuing Haj permits to domestic pilgrims, both Saudis and expats, in keeping with the higher authority's order in this regard ratifying the recommendations of the Supreme Haj Committee.
A Haj permit should be issued to a citizen only after he makes a contract for Haj services with a licensed domestic pilgrim organization. Nobody will be exempted from this regulation except with the approval of the interior minister.
Saudi pilgrims have an option between using their own conveyance and the transportation arranged by the Haj organization. Pilgrims who use private cars will be subjected to the vehicular regulations in the holy places.
Expatriate pilgrims should continue the practice of making the contract with any Haj organization to get the Haj permit.
Khaled Al-Salimi, director general of the domestic pilgrim department in the Haj Ministry, said 182 advanced tent units have been allocated for the domestic Haj organizations.
The tents have been chosen in line with the standards and specifications set by the ministry to guarantee maximum comfort and safety to pilgrims, the director general said. The ministry also is keen, while allocating the tents of the most advanced type, to make maximum use of the available services and to avoid confusion.
The allocations are made on the basis of the merit and eligibility of each Haj organization. The tents with a total capacity for 229,358 pilgrims will be distributed among the licensed 456 organizations, 306 of which have been merged in 88 groups, and the other 161 individual groups, he said. The tents have been classified into five categories, A, B, C, D and E, considering their distance from the Jamarat. The years of licensed servicing of domestic pilgrims, the number of operational and administrative violations such as penalties, failure to give reports and statements to the higher departments, default in transportation terms are some of the factors which determined the allocation of tents. The operational potentials of the establishment such as the efficiency of the organization's administrative machinery, training courses attended by its staff, and maintenance, hygiene and safety levels of each organization were also considered at the time of allocation, he said.
The category A is allocated 42 tents, B gets four, C 21 and D 48 while E the highest number of 67. The capacity of each tent ranged between 150 and 285 pilgrims. (SPA)
