MAKKAH — The General Syndicate of Cars has removed about 1,700 buses from this year's Haj transport fleet, according to the organization's secretary general. Marwan Bin Rashad Zubaidi said the vehicles have been excluded because they are too old and unsafe. “These old and cracking buses will not be safe for the pilgrims to use during their trips between Jeddah, Makkah, Madinah and the Holy Sites,” he said. Zubaidi said this was a routine annual procedure that the syndicate carries out every year. He said the decision to exclude 1,696 buses was made during a meeting at the syndicate's main office in Makkah on Monday chaired by undersecretary of the Haj Ministry Sahal Al-Sabban and attended by the representatives of 18 transport companies. Zubaidi said Haj Minister Bandar Al-Hajjar has approved three new transport companies with 150 buses that will join the fleet of vehicles to transport pilgrims. “There will be more than 17,700 buses transporting pilgrims this year,” he said. The spokesman said the syndicate has so far signed contracts to transport 1.3 million pilgrims of various nationalities.
