Hajj mismanagement: Pilgrims allotted apartments far removed from Haram Sharif

Due to the far-off lodgings, every pilgrim will have to spend some 40 to 50 Saudi Riyals each day on fare.

ISLAMABAD:

As the government is about to start the 2013 Hajj operation, tens of thousands of pilgrims are quite worried because the hired lodgings are quite far from the Haram Sharif.

In fact, they are so far away that each pilgrim will have to bear an extra expenditure of SR1,100-1,300 in fares, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Of the total 86, 869 pilgrims, over 40, 000 have been allotted lodgings that have been procured at a distant place called Azizia. From there, they will have to travel some eight to nine kilometres to ‘Haram Sharif’ every day, incurring an extra cost on bus fares, officials of Religious Affairs Ministry said.

One of Pakistan’s most outspoken political leaders, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, who heads the Awami Muslim League (AML), recently visited the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and sought the details from the ministry concerned, said he smelled billions of rupees worth of corruption in Hajj 2013 arrangements.



“It’ll be the biggest corruption scandal, bigger than the 2010 Hajj scam. I’ll go to the court if it takes notice of this issue,” the AML chief said. “It’ll be a serious problem for the Hujjaj who would be paying SR 40-50 extra on fares every day,” he added.

“Some 100 of the 122 buildings acquired are located in Aizizia, a place some nine to ten kilometers away from Makkah’s Holy Haram Mosque and the Ka’aba,” unnamed officials engaged with the arrangements said, “This is the same place where tens of thousands of Pakistan pilgrims faced lots of troubles in 2010,” he added.

“Pakistan will pay SR187 million for these buildings,” they said, adding that a total of 247 million Saudi riyals would be paid for all the buildings hired for 86, 869 Hujjaj this year. Pakistan has already paid SR128.9 million as the rent for these buildings,” they added.

The Pakistan Hajj Mission has hired a big building owned by Abdul Rahman Nasir in Azizia, at a rent of SR2,700 per month. This building is some ten kilometre away from the Holy Mosque. The mission also paid SR438,750 in advance to the owner who is charging SR270, 000 per month for another ten buildings located some eight to nine kilometre from the Haram Sharif, sources said.

Two more buildings in Azizia, owned by Hani Ibrahim Bashara, are nine kilometre away and the rent Pakistan Hajj Mission in Jeddah will pay is SR4,800 per month. Seven buildings, whose rent is SR29,400 per month, are also located some eight to nine kilometre from the Ka’abah.

Director General Hajj Jeddah, Syed Abu Ahmad Akif, who made the deal, acquired a big building owned by Hamood Ibrahim Hamood for SR963,750. This building, in Aizizia, is nine kilometres from the mosque.

To take up the issue of hired buildings’ rates, Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Yousaf visited Saudi Arabia recently and cancelled contracts of two buildings in Jabal-e-Nur location, added the officials.

He ordered the Hajj director general at Jeddah to take immediate steps to resolve the issue, officials said.

Former Minister for Religious Affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi, the major role-player in the 2010 Hajj scam, observed that the rates of recently hired apartments in Aizizia are twice as much as those in 2010. He, however, did not comment further on this issue.

Former Federal Minister Syed Khursheed Shah, who was involved in Hajj 2013 arrangements, said the apartments were hired when the PPP government had completed its tenure. Shah put all responsibility on the DG Hajj.

“Abu Ahmad Akif could be responsible, if the hired buildings are located too far away from the Haram Sharif or for any possible misappropriation,” he told The Express Tribune.

However, the ministry’s spokesperson Shahzad Ahmed defended the step. “The accommodations for pilgrims are located at suitable places and hired on market price in the area,” he said, adding that arrangements for extra buses for picking and dropping the pilgrims would be made soon.

“No complaint has been received from any pilgrim so far and I do not see any misappropriation in the hiring process of buildings,” he added.

The government has already received Rs25.4 billion from intending pilgrims who have deposited the amount in the scheduled banks months ago. Interestingly, the banks will pay a hefty sum of Rs310 million to the Ministry of Religious Affairs in interest.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd, 2013.