Farsy, Minister of Haj, dismissed any possibility of women being appointed to the Tawafa Board of Directors. He said it is too early to make a decision on the matter and indicated that the most important thing is to determine what women can contribute to the Tawafa establishments. Farsy made his comments Sunday while making a tour of South Asia and Non-Arab African Countries Tawafa Establishment. “Women participate in matters related to Haj according to the principles of the Shariah,” he said. “We find women participating in social work, hospitals and in the enlightenment campaigns. In my opinion, women find difficulty in any work that necessitates their mingling with men.” Dr. Farsy revealed a plan to set up a coordinating commission for internal-pilgrim companies and said the project, in its final stages, is being reviewed by the Experts Commission at the Council of Ministers. He said the commission's members will be elected and appointed. He also announced that the Ministry of Haj is conducting a study regarding the Tawafa establishments' revenue, which he said will be submitted to Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Premier, Minister of Interior and Chairman of the Higher Haj Committee to review it in preparation for submitting it to King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. Dr. Farsy also said construction has begun on a permanent Ministry of Haj building at the gateway to Makkah. It will take 18 months to complete the SR90-million project, he added. He said completion of the Jamarat Bridge does not mean that the pilgrims' grouping applied by the Ministry of Haj will be canceled. In reply to a question by Okaz/Saudi Gazette, the Minister of Haj said the Holy Sites Train will be operated at 33-precent capacity in its first stage and transport 170,000 local pilgrims and those coming from the Gulf states. He said the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs is responsible for its operation during the Haj seasons. Dr. Farsy said the Ministry of Haj has banned a number of Umrah companies because of their performance and added that the ministry does not make such decisions quickly or lightly. He said the decisions are made by a committee representing the ministries of Haj, Commerce and Interior, which prepares reports on the companies' performance, and those that violate rules will be punished. A certain percentage of delay of the Umrah pilgrims' departures is applied to every Umrah company and companies will be banned if the limit is exceeded. The Ministry of Haj has tasked a committee with improving the mechanism applied to these companies, Dr. Farsy said. He said according to its responsibility, the Ministry of Haj supervises the performance of the Umrah companies, despite the fact that they are also supervised and monitored by the National Center for Data and the Ministry of Interior in matters relating to the issuance of visas and overstaying. Dr. Farsy said the Ministry of Haj is working in coordination with the ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs regarding the granting of visas. He said his organization can accommodate any number of Umrah pilgrims, according to the principle of supply and demand. Regarding the Tawafa establishments, Dr. Farsy said there will be no changes to the system governing the appointment of four members of the Tawafa Board of Directors. “The system authorizes the minister of Haj and not Fuad Farsy to appoint four members of the Board of Directors of the Tawafa establishments,” he said. He said the policy is meant to maintain a balance “thus I will appoint people in the Tawafa profession and not my friends.” Dr. Farsy, who said the appointment experiment has proved to be a success and that appointees are effective, added that this appointment system is applied by chambers of commerce and industry. He said an appointment to replace Abdullah Alaa Al-Deen, the chairman, is a procedural matter and the appointment will be announced immediately after it is decided. The Minister of Haj also discussed matters including accommodation of pilgrims, shuttle trips, grouping of pilgrims to the Jamarat Bridge and their transportation to Madina.
