MAKKAH — Enough seats are still available with the local Haj companies for domestic pilgrims, said Hussein Al-Sharif, undersecretary of the Haj Ministry refuting the companies' claims that they can no longer accept registration requests. “A total of 140,000 Saudis and expatriates have so far registered with various local Haj companies to prerform the Haj this year,” he said. The undersecretary said this leaves the companies with 38,000 seats which are still empty for the domestic pilgrims. This is in addition to the 990 seats available to them via the ministry's e-portal. Al-Sharif said the entire fees was transferred to the companies' accounts and added that the money transfer is being made twice a day. “There is no dispute between the ministry and the companies,” he said adding that Haj permits will not be issued to the pilgrims who are outside the Kingdom at present. He said the money transfer will be made only after the Haj permit has been actually issued. “We will not make the transfer on the approval of the permit but only after it has been printed,” he added. Al-Sharif said the ministry has established the e-portal for the registration of pilgrims to control prices and uncover fake Haj campaigns. “The ministry is determined to continue this electronic service which enables it to know the names of pilgrims and the companies that they have registered with,” he said. “Thanks to the e-portal, we now have a compete data-base containing the names of all domestic pilgrims and the local companies serving them,” he added. Meanwhile, Haj Minister Bandar Al-Hajjar on Sunday visited the unified Zamazma office (the office in charge of providing the blessed Zamzam water) and the general syndicate of cars which is providing a total of 17,700 buses to transport pilgrims. He discussed with them their preparations for the Haj and urged them to extend the best possible services to the guests of God so as to enable them perform their Haj rituals in ease, peace and comfort. He also visited the factory to bottle the Zamzam water and asked officials to provide the blessed water to each and every pilgrim and to give special attention to the cleanliness of the water. The factory produces about 2,000 water containers of various sizes in an hour. On the other hand the office to direct and guide pilgrims' buses in Makkah and Madinah has so far received more than 200,000 pilgrims who have arrived by air at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and Prince Muhammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah. Abdullah Sindi, director of the office, said the pilgrimes were received with gifts, Zamzam water and guiding booklets.
