Okaz/Saudi Gazette MAKKAH — The Ministry of Haj may, for the first time, allow transport companies under the umbrella of the General Syndicate of Cars (GSC) to rent buses from outside to transport pilgrims during this year's Haj season. The ministry said it was seriously considering the move which will boost the fleet of buses to transport pilgrims. It also said the GPS application to monitor movement of vehicles will be thoroughly applied to follow up the Guests of God while on streets between Jeddah-Makkah, Madinah and the holy sites. The ministry's undersecretary for transport and projects Mohammed Bin Talal Simsim discussed the move in a meeting on Monday with the chairman of the GSC Ahmed Bin Abdullah Simbawah who said they discussed the least number of buses required to provide easy transport for the increasing number of pilgrims. Last year, the syndicate provided about 17,500 buses for transporting pilgrims and established mobile workshops to promptly deal with cases of defaults or breakdowns. Simbawah said the undersecretary asked them to provide him with a comprehensive report about their views of the move within a month time. He said, if approved, the move will be the second of its type after the local Haj campaigns were allowed about two years ago to rent buses from outside to provide transport for their pilgrims. The local companies every Haj season need more than 2,920 buses to be able to serve their domestic pilgrims. The rent price per bus per season from Egypt is between SR20,000-25,000 while from Turkey it is ranging from SR22,500 to SR30,000
