People performing Umrah will not be allowed to stay more than 15 days in
Saudi Arabia, local officials said.The decision was attributed to the
large numbers of crowds keen on spending more time in the two sacred cities of
Makkah and Medina even though space has been heavily restricted by the on-going
massive work.“We have drafted a set of regulations for the companies
overseeing the religious rituals,” the pilgrimage and Umrah ministry said. “With
the large expansion work, we need to keep the number of people at a specific
level to avoid unbearable overcrowding.”
The ministry said that 4.2
million people have arrived in Saudi Arabia since mid-December to perform Umrah,
local daily Al Sharq reported on Sunday.
“According to our figures 3.9
million people have left and there are now around 250,000 in the country. That’s
the number we would like to keep, so we need to ensure that people leave within
a specific frame of time to allow others to arrive,” the ministry
said.
More than 300 teams have been formed by the ministry to interact
with the 48 Umrah operators to ensure smooth operations.
“The teams are
always out, making sure there are no violations and recording remarks and
observations from the people performing Umrah. We will not hesitate to take
action against any operators found guilty of gross violations,” the ministry
said.
Saudi authorities in June urged Muslims living in Saudi Arabia and
abroad to consider postponing their Haj (pilgrimage) plans for this year as the
expansion work at Makkah’s Grand Mosque is heavily restricting
space.
Concerned about stampedes and heavy congestions, Riyadh said it
wanted to reduce the number of Saudi Arabia-based Muslims allowed to perform Haj
by 50 per cent and the number of those arriving from other countries by 20 per
cent.
The ministry said that 4.2 million people have arrived in Saudi Arabia since mid-December to perform Umrah, local daily Al Sharq reported on Sunday.
“According to our figures 3.9 million people have left and there are now around 250,000 in the country. That’s the number we would like to keep, so we need to ensure that people leave within a specific frame of time to allow others to arrive,” the ministry said.
More than 300 teams have been formed by the ministry to interact with the 48 Umrah operators to ensure smooth operations.
“The teams are always out, making sure there are no violations and recording remarks and observations from the people performing Umrah. We will not hesitate to take action against any operators found guilty of gross violations,” the ministry said.
Saudi authorities in June urged Muslims living in Saudi Arabia and abroad to consider postponing their Haj (pilgrimage) plans for this year as the expansion work at Makkah’s Grand Mosque is heavily restricting space.
Concerned about stampedes and heavy congestions, Riyadh said it wanted to reduce the number of Saudi Arabia-based Muslims allowed to perform Haj by 50 per cent and the number of those arriving from other countries by 20 per cent.
No comments:
Write comments