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13.12.2007 General News

Another Hajj Fiasco

13.12.2007 LISTEN
By Daily Graphic

Two thousand seven hundred Muslims are stranded at the Aviation Social Centre near the Kotoka International Airport in the latest episode of the recurrent adversity that befalls would-be Ghanaian pilgrims to Mecca.

The first batch, comprising 362 of the prospective pilgrims, was expected to have left Accra for Jeddah at dawn last Saturday, but by press time yesterday neither the officials of the Interim Hajj Management Committee (IHMC) nor the pilgrims had any clue as to the whereabouts of the plane which was expected to take them to the Holy city.

While officials of the Hajj committee told the Daily Graphic that the plane had left Saudi Arabia for Accra, aviation officials at the airport said it was rather in the UK and was yet to take off from London for Saudi Arabia before re-routing from Jeddah to Accra to airlift the pilgrims.

Most of the pilgrims, who are from Ashanti and the three northern regions, were transported to Accra by the IHMC after their documents had been certified by Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) officials.

A Hajj committee official said the pilgrims had refused to go to the Trade Fair Centre where facilities were available to relieve them of their difficulties.

Some of the pilgrims told the Daily Graphic that they had started spending the money meant for their upkeep in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The stranded pilgrims, therefore, appealed to the government to intervene to help them to fulfil their life-long dream of performing the Hajj.

When contacted earlier on, the Chairman of the Hajj Committee, Ustaz Seidu Ahmed, had told the Daily Graphic that officials of the GCAA had gone to Saudi Arabia to inspect the flight (ALAMA from Libya) which was expected to arrive in the country by 10.00 p.m. on Saturday to convey the first batch within two hours of arrival. But that was not to be.

Members of the committee and the Hajj agents had since held a series of meetings on how to address the crisis.
The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. It is obligatory on Muslims who have the financial wherewithal and are in good health.

However, Ghanaian pilgrims have for some time now annually had difficulties in performing the Hajj, with problems ranging from departure problems, poor accommodation in Saudi Arabia to delays in returning home.

To address the situation, the Hajj Board was disbanded in 2005 and in its stead the National Hajj Council (NHC) was formed to manage the operations of the Hajj.

The first outing of the NHC in the 2005/6 Hajj saw a marked improvement over the previous ones, but last year's Hajj turned out disastrous and the NHC was unable to airlift 499 prospective pilgrims to perform the Hajj.

This year's Hajj starts on December 18, 2007 and the Jeddah Airport is expected to be closed by December 15.

Story by Musah Yahaya Jafaru & Sam Essuman

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