Audio Attachment:Chairman of the National Hajj Committee (NHC), Alhaji Alhassan Bennie, says this year�s Hajj will be devoid of the perennial problems that usually plagued the organisation. |
The Chairman of the National Hajj Committee (NHC), Alhaji Alhassan Bennie, has assured all Ghanaians especially Muslims that this year�s Hajj will be devoid of the perennial problems that usually plagued the organisation.
Alhaji Alhassan Bennie opined that with the active participation of the government they are positive of an incident-free pilgrimage.
He gave the assurance in an interview on PEACEFM�s flagship programme, �Kokrokoo.
�This time it�s going to be very smooth�when we started we had the cooperation of the government. The Vice President�s office has been of immense help to us by supporting us very well, they paid for part of our accommodation in Saudi Arabia and we�ve also paid for our flights through the Egypt Air�as well as that I have dedicated and committed sub-committee heads who are supporting me in documentation, welfare, and in other fields and this has made the work very, very easy�I�m very confident we�ll have no problems,� he said.
According to Alhaji Alhassan, previously they used travelling certificates, which is just a combination same papers with blue covering. However, since other nationals were using passports of their country of origin, thus making Ghana look peculiar, a directive has been issued that Ghana conforms to the rest of the world.
The first batch of Ghanaian pilgrims leaves Accra on the 10th of November, two clear weeks before the Hajj �proper� begins on the 26th of November.
Per arrangements made by the NHC, the scheduled flights will depart on a daily basis from Accra to Medina. The first flight is on the 10th, the second flight will be on the 11th, whiles third flight leaves on the 12th of November.
Normally the flight from Accra, Ghana lands in Jeddah, before the Ghanaian delegation boards a bus to Medina, Mecca thus causing a lot of inconveniences for pilgrims. But this year, the NHC, has managed to secure seats on Egypt-Air, the first of its kind.
�Everybody who is going to Medina will spend three days, then travel by bus from Medina to Mecca� he told Peace Fm.
�Hajj Village�
Another area of prime concern during moments such as this is the insanitary conditions under which the pilgrims live in prior to their departure to Mecca.
But that will soon be a thing of the past.
Sanitation facilities more comfortable and an improved environment more hygienic called the Hajj Vllage, has been set up.
�The Hajj Village is an initiative of His Excellency the Vice President, John Dramani Mahama. He made a promise to me when I became the chairman of the National Hajj Committee in response to the deplorable state he found some pilgrims some two years back...we initially wanted to set it up at Kawukudi Junction, near Nima (a suburb of Accra) but on consultation with others, the idea came up� and we talked to our good brothers through the Vice president�s office and Zoomlion constructed the village for us,� he stated.
The Hajj Village consists of two tents which can accommodate nearly 500 pilgrims, the large tent being for women, which can house 300 of them, whiles the smaller one can contain 200 people.
Alhaji Alhassan Bennie revealed that personnel from the Immigration Service and Custom officials, who are in the camp, will go through their documentation and verify that everything is in order. He also touched on how they intend to keep the Hajj Village spick and span.
�Zoomlion, a waste management company, has promised to provide us with sanitary workers, the workers will be uniformed to make them easily identifiable and more distinguished from other people,� he told Kwami Sefa Kayi.
Source: Alex Ofei / peacefmonline
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