AFTER Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah region, announced the end of a successful Haj season in front of local and international media, Saudi Arabia presented a beautiful picture of managing huge crowds in a limited space and with minimum resources. Nearly 4 million pilgrims performed Haj this year in peace. What is sad about this picture is that the number of pilgrims without permits reached over a million. These pilgrims in my opinion were those who went directly to Arafat. That is why their presence was not felt in Mina. The campaign, “No Haj without Permit”, disappeared without trace. This Haj initiative should continue for the next three to five years. Mosque preachers were not part of this campaign. In fact, a number of mosque preachers were encouraging people to perform Haj if they could. If there was an extensive campaign with the participation of mosque preachers and scholars as well as the help of police forces controlling the entry and exit points of Mina, then the problem of illegal pilgrims will end within a few years. Transportation should be developed by adding a highway in the north that will be parallel to the highway in the south. It will ensure a smooth flow of traffic in the next few years. I also suggest improving pedestrian facilities by adding good condition restrooms, pathways for wheelchair pilgrims, lights, air conditioning and greenery because the majority of pilgrims prefer to perform the pilgrimage on foot. As for the rising quantity of garbage in Mina, in my opinion adding more cleaning workers will not help. We should start by making it the responsibility of Tawafa establishments to clean the areas around them and for shops to do the same. Any violators should be fined and punished. The role of the Makkah municipality should be focused only on cleaning the main roads. The municipality should also focus on cracking down on street peddlers because they are the source of a lot of problems. We should not rely on cleaning workers because they turn into beggars during Haj time and it is difficult to supervise them.
