MADINAH MUNAWWARAH: A high-level team responsible for monitoring the Hajj arrangements has arrived in Madinah to oversee and ensure the provision of accommodation facilities, transportation, food, healthcare, and other logistical arrangements for the government scheme pilgrims.
Led by Joint Secretary (JS) Arshad Farid Khan from the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, has already started diligently to identify areas for improvement and implement necessary measures, ensuring the enhancement of service quality provided to the pilgrims.
Arshad Farid Khan said, “He is bound to continuously and rigorously monitor the facilities for Hajj to provide intending pilgrims with optimum services and amenities.”
“Thanks to the round-the-clock efforts of the dedicated ministry staff assigned to the task, the complaints regarding luggage and other issues raised by intending pilgrims have been successfully resolved, bringing the backlog to nearly zero percent,” he added.
He said upon their arrival in Madinah, the high-level hajj monitoring team wasted no time in conducting surprise inspections of food facilities and accommodation arrangements. Immediate action was taken against catering companies that displayed unsatisfactory performance, with some receiving warnings and others being blacklisted for future engagements.
He stated that due to the expansion of Masjid e Nabvi, it was revealed that over 65,000 accommodations became redundant. However, the dedicated staff worked tirelessly day and night to ensure alternative residences were arranged.
Remarkably, more than 95 percent of the accommodations were successfully arranged in close proximity to Masjid e Nabvi, providing convenient access for pilgrims, he said.
“A total of 19,000 intending pilgrims will arrive in Madinah by Saturday night,” Arshad Farid Khan informed.
He further mentioned, “The ‘Main Control Office’ is diligently overseeing operations, and the influx of hajj flights will continue until June 5, there is a well-established system for building identification in Madinah while the same level of organization is not present in Makkah.