MINA — The quota of one pilgrim for each 1,000 people in every country will continue without exception for years to come, Haj Minister Bandar Al-Hajjar has said. "The quota system will continue because of the limited geographical areas of the holy sites," he said refuting reports on social media that the quota will cease to exist after this year's Haj. The minister said the Kingdom's main concern is the safety of the pilgrims and with providing them with the required services that will enable them to perform their Haj rites in ease, security and comfort. Earlier reports said that the Haj season of 2015 would be the last pilgrimage during which the quota system would be applied. The Haj quota system was decided by the Islamic foreign ministers in a meeting in Amman in 1987 in view of the limited space of the holy sites due to the ongoing development projects. Al-Hajjar said his ministry would continue implementation of its plan, which was introduced for the first time last year, to use freon air-conditioning in all tents in Mina and Arafat. "This will be done in close cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and we hope to complete the entire project this year," he said. The minister said there are 200 local Haj companies providing services to about 180,000 domestic pilgrims. He asked the pilgrims not to deal with any Haj service-proving company if it is not officially registered in the ministry's e-portal. "The electronic gate has greatly reduced the number of fake Haj companies and has facilitated registration of genuine pilgrims," he said. Al-Hajjar said the ministry is extensively using state-of-the-art technology to facilitate an easy performance of Haj and added that the unified e-portal system would be applied to all external pilgrims from next year with the help of the Foreign Ministry. "Right from their homes, the pilgrims can register themselves and their companions for the Haj and choose the services they may prefer as well as accommodation, transport and food," he said. "In fact about 80 percent of pilgrims have benefited from this system this year," he added. The minister said a special e-gate has been established for pilgrims from Gulf who will be treated as Saudi citizens and will not be allowed to perform the pilgrimage without a permit.
