Hajj Board should be reorganised - Pilgrim

Alhaji Ibrahim Nigo, a Muslim pilgrim, on Tuesday called for the reorganisation of the Hajj Board if the yearly ritual of pilgrims being stranded was to be effectively dealt with.

He told the Ghana News Agency that, he believed without care being taken to vet and select members for the board, the problem was bound to continue.

Alhaji Nigo appealed to the government and all stakeholders to come to the aid of stranded pilgrims who were still waiting to be airlifted to Mecca.

Hundreds of stranded pilgrims have been sleeping in the open along the street from Aviance Cargo Village at the Kotoka International Airport to the Aviation Social centre.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency, the pilgrims said although they had paid 2,300 dollars each to embark on the pilgrimage they had been left unattended to since last Friday.

The pilgrims, sleeping on mats and boards in the open without tents to cover them, said they had absolutely no protection against the weather.

Sanitation conditions are also very poor with only three toilets facilities serving all of them.

"We have not heard anything from anybody, "a group of pilgrims said.

According to them, no member of the Hajj Board, which is responsible for their flight arrangements, had been there to see them in spite of the huge amounts they had paid.

Meanwhile the Jeddah airport is to be closed to arriving pilgrims on December 14, 2007.