Cii Radio| Ayesha Ismail| 08 August 2017| 15 Zhul Qadha 1438
There will be no leniency toward illegal pilgrims and those transporting them to the holy sites, Makkah police chief, Maj.Gen. Saeed Bin Salim Al-Qarni, has warned.
“There are deterrent punishments for anyone violating the rules and regulations during the Haj season,” Al-Qarni was quoted as saying by Al-Madina Arabic daily on Monday.
Elaborate security plans, he said, has been put in place with checkpoints set up along all roads leading to Makkah and the holy sites.
“Policemen have been stationed in all the residential districts in Makkah from where illegal pilgrims may sneak into the holy sites,” he said.
Administering a strong warning to Saudi and expatriate drivers, Maj. Gen. Al-Qarni said those caught transporting illegal pilgrims will be imprisoned, fined and deported and may also result in the confiscation of vehicles.
Meanwhile, tents are being erected near the Jamarat area in Mina to accommodate about 86,800 Iranian pilgrims.
There will be about 83,828 pilgrims and 2,400 officials working in the official Iranian Haj mission.
The Iranian camp has been supplied with all necessary services including sustenance, municipal services, a health center, air-conditioning and others.
On the other hand, as many as 80,000 pilgrims will be coming from Turkey to perform Haj this year.
Supervisor of theTurkish pilgrims, Fatih Kort, said 50,000 pilgrims will be under the direct sponsorship of the Presidency of Religious Affairs while 30,000 will come through a number of tourist and Haj companies.
He said there will be more than 4,000 employees to serve the Turkish pilgrims in Makkah and Madinah in coordination with the Ministry of Haj and Umrah.
The Jeddah Islamic Seaport has deployed more than 200 employees to serve the pilgrims at the facility.
More than 30,000 pilgrims are expected to arrive through the seaport including about 18,000 from the Sudan.
Authorities at Arar border point in the north are expecting some 13,500 pilgrims from Iraq. They said all preparations have been completed to receive and transport them to Makkah or Madinah.
The Iraqi Haj mission has already arrived in the Kingdom to extend services to the pilgrims coming from various parts of Iraq.
Though not a single pilgrim has so far arrived from Qatar, preparations have been completed to receive and service them as usual.
A spokesman of the Tawafa Establishment for Pilgrims from South Asia said the contract to serve the Qatari pilgrims, signed a few months back, is still valid as the authorities in Doha did not inform them about its cancellation.
Qatar did not only prevent its citizens from performing Haj this year but has called for internationalization of the holy sites.
Source – Saudi Gazette
