TH Rents 11 Buildings For Haj Season This Year

MECCA, April 14 (Bernama) -- The Pilgrims Fund Board (Tabung Haji (TH)) has rented 11 buildings to accommodate 28,000 Malaysian haj pilgrims for this year's haj season, with each building located not more than one kilometre away from the Grand Mosque here.

Source from (Bernama): http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v7/ge/newsgeneral.php?id=941892
Published: April 14, 2013

TH chairman Tan Sri Abi Musa Asa'ari Mohamed Nor said the effort to rent the buildings in close vicinity of the Grand Mosque was indeed challenging, but with determination of TH staff and the good relationship that existed between TH and the Saudi government enabled it to become a reality.

He said TH had to rent new buildings for this year's haj season because some of the buildings rented by TH in the previous haj season had been demolished by the Saudi Arabian authority to make way for the expansion of the Grand Mosque and the holy city of Mecca.

At the same time, TH has also been planning to rent larger buildings that can accommodate more pilgrims to ease the pilgrim management process for the TH staff, but it all depends on the availability, he told a press conference in Mecca.

Abi Musa is here to monitor the development of TH operation for this year's haj season. Last Wednesday, he held a meeting with the Saudi Arabian Haj Ministry to discuss their preparations.

He said ongoing expansion project around the Grand Mosque would probably cause some inconveniences to the haj pilgrims from all over the world, including Malaysia as well.

However, all pilgrims were advised to show a little understanding of the situation as the project was implemented to make haj pilgrimage more comfortable for the pilgrims in the future, he said.

Abi Musa said the Saudi government had instructed the expansion works to be stopped for four months from the beginning of Ramadan to make way for the haj season.

The expansion project was launched by the King of Saudi Arabia King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz in August 2011 involving a cost of SR80 billion (RM66 billion) and it is the largest expansion project ever implemented in the Grand Mosque's history.

Abi Musa said like any other countries, Malaysia had requested for the haj quota to be increased, but the Saudi Arabian government was firm in its decision as various aspects must be taken into account, especially pilgrims' safety and comfort, as well as its own capability to manage the pilgrims, who numbered almost four million.

At present, all countries are given a quota of one percent of their population. Since Malaysia has 28 million people, the Saudi government only allows 28,000 people to perform haj.

Meanwhile, Abi Musa advised Malaysians preparing for the haj pilgrimage to deal only with TH-appointed agencies to avert from being cheated.

He said this was because cheating cases involving haj pilgrims continued to be reported each year even though the list of the licensed agencies could easily be obtained on TH website and had also been advertised in local newspapers.

This year, he said TH had granted the licence to manage haj pilgrims to 20 agencies and their performance would be monitored closely to ensure that they would practice what they preached.

He called on haj pilgrims to make thorough preparation and take extra precautions as a very hot weather condition was expected during the haj season this year.

--BERNAMA