Hajj committee denies allegations

The current Hajj committee appointed by Minister of Posts and Muslim Religious Affairs M. L. A. Haleem yesterday dismissed the recent allegations made against it by the United Hajj Alliance.

Chairman Hajj Committee Dr. M.t.ziyad said in a statement that Minister Haleem appointed the Hajj Committee and given them mandates with the freedom to decide what is best for the Hajis.“he also advised the Hajj Committee to especially look into ways and means of bringing down the rates (which were going around Rs. 600,000 in year 2015), as he thought was high and deprived many deserving Hajis in performing Hajj, the important pilgrimage recommended to be performed by every Muslim who has the means.

“It should be stressed that the Hajj Operations are mainly handled by the Hajj Travel Operators, including all the financial dealings. Hajj Committee, appointed by the Minister makes policy decisions on regulations and such decisions are implemented by the Department of Muslim Religious and Cultural Affairs.the pilgrims spend on their pilgrimage and no funds from the Consolidated Fund, are used in these operations,” the statement said.

“The Committee carefully studied the guidelines approved by the Supreme Court in this regard in year 2013. We state with responsibility that the Hajj Committee is committed to follow the guidelines approved by the Supreme Court and deny any involvement of violation of the said guidelines,” Mr. Ziyad also said.

It should be stressed that the Hajj Operations are mainly handled by the Hajj Travel Operators, including all the financial dealings

“The Committee strongly felt that the awarding of fixed number of quota (pilgrims) to each operator, gave the latter a monopoly in deciding the price as well as selecting the Hajis – which deprived the chances of many deserving Hajis in performing this sacred pilgrimage. Therefore, decided to select the operators as well as Hajis – through a proper registration system.this in turn gives the option of Hajis selecting the operator, under a free market system. As a result, the rates came down from about Rs. 600,000 to nearly Rs. 400,000 during the 2nd year and Rs. 450,000 in the 3rd year.

When the Department received a quota of 600 Hajis at the last moment in 2017, the Department was left with only about 3 - 4 working days, to finalize all the logistics involved, i.e. selecting the Hajis, getting their tickets booked, obtaining their visas and making arrangements for the Haji’s stay at Makkah, Madina, Mina and Arafa. It is a fact that, the Saudi Embassy in Sri Lanka stamped the last visa around midnight the previous day, due to Allah’s blessings and sheer commitment and effort of the Hajj Committee as well as the staff, attached to the Department.this is known to all the Operators, who serviced the Hajis.

The Committee strongly felt that the awarding of fixed number of quota (pilgrims) to each operator, gave the latter a monopoly in deciding the price as well as selecting the Hajis – which deprived the chances of many deserving Hajis in performing this sacred pilgrimage

The Committee said the role of the Department in organizing the Haj for 600 Hajis is a massive operation and considering the opportunity of sending additional 600 Hajis, the Department and Haj Committee only facilitated their pilgrimage under the license of 4 operators, namely Careem Lanka Travels, Rashadi Travels, Safaa Travels and Al Ziyara Travels.

The committee charged that one or two operators who had made allegations always had complaints against their services, which were referred to a Panel of Inquiry, appointed by the present Hajj Committee.

Hajj Committee also denied the claims made by the operators that it had engaged in money laundering. The committee said some funds were collected, as a practice, by the operators and it is their responsibility to account with the respective Hajis. “This amount was collected and used to pay (3371.50 Riyals equivalent to Rs. 140,041 per Haji; Total for 600 Hajis – Rs. 84,084,600) as follows and the receipts are available with the respective Operators; Muallim – 1500 Riyals; Azeeziya accommodation – 753 Riyals; Haj Draft – 1029 Riyals and Thaameen and Nakaba – 92.50 Riyals. Neither the Hajj Committee nor the Department collected any of these funds,” it said. The Committee notes with concern that false accusation had been made on fraudulent activities. Accordingly the committee said administration frees of Rs. 25,000 as refundable deposit were given back to the pilgrims.