THE guests of Allah are flocking to the holy city of Makkah to perform Haj. They are sincerely praying for the Saudi government, thanks to its utmost keenness and care in serving the pilgrims and the Two Holy Mosques. But immediately after setting their foot in the courtyards of the Grand Mosque, the reality dawns on the pilgrims that they become victims of greed and financial exploitation. Let me mention my own experience in this regard. I had booked a room at a hotel overlooking the Grand Mosque during the last 10 days of the holy month of Ramadan a few years ago. For this, I approached a tourism office to help me in getting the room at a lower rate than by booking directly. But when I got to the hotel, I was surprised to see that the hotel management was charging me a higher rate. The rent for the room was SR5,000 a night despite the regulations of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) that the rent for such a hotel room should not exceed SR3,800. Who gave permission to the hotel management for this steep increase? I then tried to contact SCTA officials on the phone several times but to no avail. Similar is the case with prices of foodstuffs. Some traders believe they can hike prices of goods at the expense of consumers. They fix prices at their own will, especially due to the absence of a fixed price list for foodstuffs. Perhaps, prices of goods sold near the Haram area during Haj season would be double the price of the same goods elsewhere. Even though inspectors from the Ministry of Commerce have all powers to take punitive measures like slapping fines on unscrupulous traders, inspectors are not seen anywhere near the Haram precincts. As far as transportation is concerned, things are no different. Limousine drivers will charge SR500 for a trip to Jeddah's King Abdulaziz International Airport if the vehicle is a compact one. Pilgrims sometimes approach security men, asking them for protection from the greed of limousine drivers who are cashing in on the rush during the peak Haj and Umrah seasons by exploiting the pilgrims' helpless situation of finding no alternative means of transport. Are these people not ashamed of their ugly business in front of Islam's holiest shrine? They eat all the meager wealth of the needy people who had struggled to earn the money for performing Haj. Even the Quraish people, though unbelievers, were well-known for respecting and serving the Holy Ka'aba. Allata, whom the Quraish worshiped, was a respectable figure for serving pilgrims, and the pre-Islam Arabs even revered him. As for these avaricious people, they are eager to exploit pilgrims and they do not have any concern about the values of Islam and the Arab tradition. I am making an earnest plea to the concerned authorities to address the problem of exorbitant price hikes during the peak pilgrimage seasons around the Grand Mosque.
