Number of companies for Haj pilgrims goes down by 17%

RIYADH: The number of companies for pilgrims has decreased by 17 percent in the past 10 years due to irregularities committed by them, or the death of owners.
Jamal Shaqdar, secretary general of the Coordinating Council of Inland Haj Companies, said that his office had been helping to solve problems.
“We help facilitate pilgrims’ Haj performance. This year we expect service companies to use nearly 4,000 buses to transport pilgrims to Makkah,” he said.
Shaqdar noted that the Coordinating Council of Inland Haj Companies was created by a decision of the Council of Ministers.
“The Council of Ministers intended to coordinate the work of 200 companies and institutions, and to find one representative for them to deal with government agencies directly instead of dealing with individual companies,” he said.
He said this is easier to do than dealing with various stakeholders.
The coordinating council, he said, has many functions and it starts with coordinating with the Ministry of Haj and Umrah, and with different companies and institutions.
“These are in addition to the representation of companies in conferences as well as in the media, and to achieve coherence and integration between the companies, and help them in the development of their business,” he said.
He said that the council highlights the tasks set by the Council of Ministers’ data for companies and institutions electronically and are linked with each other.
It also organizes training courses for the development of workers, businesses and their owners, delegates and officials in all the services.
He said that on the problem related to lack of business confidence, companies and pilgrim institutions are urged to have a complete trust and confidence on the coordinating council’s credibility and capability to help them.