Alhaji Farouk Hamza
The Executive Secretary of the Ghana Hajj Board, Alhaji Farouk Hamza, yesterday called for the depoliticisation of the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.
He was reacting to a question on the recent promise by former President John Mahama that should he be voted into power he would reduce the cost of pilgrimage drastically, during a Metro TV Good Afternoon Ghana programme.
The Executive Secretary stated that the introduction of new taxes, one of which is the VAT which now stands at 15 per cent, the policy to stop the gratis provision of services to pilgrims through the privatisation of these not forgetting the depreciation of the local currency against the dollar are some of the factors dictating the cost of the Hajj. “Ghana is not the only country which has witnessed an increase in the cost of the Hajj,” he said.
Contrary to the opinion of some persons, he was empathic that “we do not make profit in the management of the Hajj.”
A Vision 2030 policy of the Saudi authorities envisages an increase of pilgrims from the current figure of about three million to five million annually or so, a project demanding increase in infrastructure for pilgrims. “A lot has changed over the years and those who went on the pilgrimage some years would appreciate the innovations during their recent visit,” he said.
When COVID-19 struck, he said the holy sites such as the tent city in Mina went into a state of disrepair, demanding fixing when the suspension of the pilgrimage was lifted, an exercise coming at a cost.
When the Hajj resumed at the end of COVID-19, the cost of services witnessed quadruple increases, and these were passed down to the pilgrims, he said.
For instance, whereas the cost of service provision per pilgrim stood at $400 in 2019, this figure shot to $1,500 after the pandemic, the Executive Secretary pointed out.
On why since the Hajj covers only a period of five days, something cannot be done to reduce the number of days spent by pilgrims in Saudi Arabia, the Executive Secretary explained that competing with some 120 or so countries for services such as airlifting of pilgrims makes it impossible to limit the number of days spent during the religious exercise.
Since flights are chartered ones, the airlines faced with other commitments must make arrangements for the various countries, a reality spanning many days.
Countries such as Nigeria whose quotas stand at about a hundred thousand in the face of Ghana’s 4,000, “the airlift exercise would have started a fortnight before ours,” he pointed out. Besides, containing the close to three million pilgrims from all over the world converging on the various religious sites requires an extension of number of days spent in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, he explained.
Quotas for individual countries, he explained, is to make provisions for proper management of infrastructure.
That is why those who use non-Hajj visas to attempt performing the Hajj create avoidable challenges for the authorities.
The deaths which occurred among Ghanaians, he said, was recorded among non-Hajj visa holders who were exposed to the harsh weather.
An innovation which should not be overlooked, he said, is about the feeding of pilgrims twice a day from the day they land in Madina until their departure from Jeddah, part of the cost buildup.
By A.R. Gomda
