Maldives Hajj Mission has revealed that Saudi Arabia improved the latest arrangements to facilitate better services for Maldivian pilgrims this year.
Speaking to PSM News, Minister of State for Islamic Affairs Mohamed Aneel said 855 out of 1,000 Maldivian pilgrims have already arrived in Saudi Arabia in batches and all of them are in good condition. He also said that all the arrangements for the Umrah pilgrimage to be conducted first have been completed.
Additionally, State Minister Aneel said the Maldives Hajj Mission reviewed and inspected the arrangements made for the pilgrims going to Mina, Muzdalifah, and Arafat. He also said that the Hajj Mission had noticed some difficulties in receiving services from the agents in the past year and requested the government to rectify the issues. As such, he said that assurance has been given that such issues will be rectified.
Furthermore, State Minister Aneel requested the families of the pilgrims to encourage them on their long journey. He urged the public to be patient in accepting that there may be some delays in the arrangements for the Hajj pilgrimage. He also advised the Maldivian pilgrims to fully comply with the rules and regulations set by the Saudi Arabian authorities.
The Maldives received 1,000 quotas for Hajj this year. Two-thirds of the quota has been given to the Maldives Hajj Corporation Limited (MHCL). The rest of the quota has been divided among three companies. The corporation will be tasked with facilitating the travel of half of the Maldivian Hajj pilgrims this year while the other half of the quota will be distributed to three other companies. The Ministry of Islamic Affairs decided that the chosen companies will receive 90 slots each in order to facilitate easy and convenient travel for pilgrims.