Despite huge promises, Pakistani pilgrims facing numerous difficulties in Makkah
NEWS DESK: Around 107,000 Pakistanis are currently in Saudi Arabia for the annual pilgrimage. Unfortunately, some of them are facing some serious issues despite the government’s promises regarding provision of facilities.
Speaking to Samaa, the pilgrims performing Hajj under the government-sponsored scheme 2017 said they are facing a number of issues in Building No 110 located in Aziziya, Makkah.
According to them, the government has failed to provide the facilities for which the pilgrims had already been charged. The food which is being served to them is not properly cooked, they said. Most of the pilgrims are buying their food from private hotels on their own. Around five or six persons are asked to share one small room. Even female family members have been separated, they lamented.
Naturally, the ministry of religious affairs has earned the ire of the pilgrims suffering in Makkah. The ministry got 16 floors of the building to accommodate the pilgrims. According to the pilgrims, those who have been allocated the top floors have to wait for too long for elevators. Moreover, they said, there were cleanliness issues in the building. Sharing their ordeal, one pilgrim told Samaa that there was no electricity for six hours in Building No 110 on Tuesday. According to sources, the building owner had not paid the electricity bills, resulting in the power cuts. As a result, the pilgrims had to spend six hours on the roadside along with their female family members.
When the pilgrims approached the ministry officials in Aziziya to solve at least their accommodation problems, they were told to ‘show patience’.
‘Improved mechanism’
According to a Radio Pakistan report, the ministry of religious affairs had developed an improved mechanism of Hajj arrangements this year keeping in view the feedback of the pilgrims. This was stated by Hajj Director Syed Imtiaz Hussain Shah in an interview in Makkah.
He had said that this year, the menu of meal has been changed and further improved, adding that efforts had also been made to procure the best possible accommodation for the pilgrims. He had also promised that cooked food will be given to the pilgrims three times in the buildings. Each pilgrim was also promised two bottles of Zam Zam.
Unfortunately, these tall claims were not fulfilled as is evident from the plight of the pilgrims.
Meanwhile, seven Pakistani pilgrims, including two women, have reportedly died.uHus
Story first published: 23rd August 2017
Article source: https://www.samaa.tv/pakistan/2017/08/despite-huge-promises-pakistani-pilgrims-facing-numerous-difficulties-makkah/