Muslim pilgrims have a fair deal

9/10/09

Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
AIR-CONDITIONED tents have been mounted by the National Hajj Committee (NHC) near the El-Wak Stadium in Accra to accommodate prospective Muslim pilgrims performing this year’s Hajj. This is the first time such tents have been mounted in advance for the holy pilgrimage.
The tents, suitable for habitation, were partly sponsored by the government and have giant television screens and woollen carpets fitted in them. The female tent takes 300 people at a time while the male takes 200.
Prospective pilgrims are expected to stay in the tent within 48 hours before their departure to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The tents are some of the facilities provided at the Hajj Village by Creater Digital Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of Zoomlion, for the NHC.
Other facilities at the Hajj Village are: a clinic, separate washrooms, toilet facilities and spaces for ablution for males and females, a canteen and an office for the NHC.
Workers of Creater Digital were seen putting finishing touches to the facilities when members of the NHC conducted some journalists round the facilities yesterday.
The Chairman of the NHC, Alhaji Alhassan Bene, said the erection of the air-conditioned tents and the other facilities was to prevent the situation where pilgrims slept in the open at Aviance for days under dehumanising conditions before their departure for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj.
He said the Minister of Defence, Lt Gen Joseph Henry Smith, had offered to deploy personnel of the military police to maintain security at the Village.
Mr Bene said for the first time the NHC would fly would-be pilgrims from the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions direct to the Hajj Village and stay there within two days before their departure.
He said the prospective pilgrims would leave in batches and indicated that the NHC would publish the names of prospective pilgrims and their dates of departure in the media.
That, he said, was to avoid overcrowding at the Hajj Village.
Alhaji Bene said the pilgrims would depart on a daily basis with the first batch leaving on November 10, 2009 with Egypt Air from Accra to Madina, where they would visit Prophet Mohammed’s Mosque before they journey to Mecca to start the Hajj rites, which start around December 24, 2006. The last batch of pilgrims leaves on November 18, 2009.
The return journey starts on December 12,2009 and ends on December 20, 2009.
Alhaji Bene said the prospective pilgrims would receive medical attention before they leave for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and indicated that only people declared to be fit would be allowed to embark on the pilgrimage.
He thanked the government for supporting the NHC in providing facilities at the Hajj Village.
The Chairman of the Welfare Committee of the NHC, Alhaji Mahama Moro, said only would-be pilgrims would be allowed entry into the Hajj Village. That, he said, was to ensure utmost security and avoid congestion.
He reminded prospective pilgrims that the deadline for the payment of the Hajj fare was October 15, 2009, and that the NHC would not extend the date.
The Project Director of Creater Digital, Mr Fennec Okyere, said the technical personnel would be on a stand-by to correct any defects during the period of the stay of the pilgrims till their return to Ghana.
Hajj organisation in Ghana has been characterised by poor pre-departure camping of pilgrims, late departure and delay in the arrival of luggage.