A six-member, team led by Dr Osman aka Dr Oluman, has arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to prepare the grounds for the arrival of Ghanaian pilgrims for this year’s Hajj.
The team left the Kotoka International Airport on Friday via Addis Ababa and has been tasked with dealing with, among other issues, accommodation for pilgrims which have been secured already anyway.
Dr Oluman is chairman of the committee responsible for securing and managing the accommodation of Ghanaian pilgrims, the other members of the team each playing other roles ahead of the departure of the first batch of pilgrims from the Tamale Airport on Thursday.
In another development, a seminar was organised by a group of pilgrim agents at the Hajj Village, where the Chairman of the Hajj Board, Sheikh IC Quaye, expressed gratitude to the agents for their support.
He added that the feat chalked so far should be attributed to God who has listened to the many prayers said to Him to enable the managers of the Hajj to deliver on their mandate.
Sheikh IC Quaye asked pilgrims to avoid taking along hard drugs, including cola, which is a prohibitive item. Those who breach Saudi regulations regarding the foregone, he warned, would face dire consequences.
The Chairman of the Ghana Hajj Agents Association earlier thanked Sheikh IC Quaye for his role in making it possible for those who paid last year but were unable to make it to the pilgrimage.
The Head of the Medical Unit, Dr Seidu Zakaria, told the participants that all the medications required by pilgrims have been determined and obtained, “and so there is no need for anybody to buy such items for the trip because these would be ceased by the Saudi authorities.”
Pilgrims were also warned to desist from securing and holding to beds for others who were yet to arrive in Saudi Arabia because the practice created unnecessary tension among Ghanaians, especially women.
Other speakers, especially clerics, spoke about discipline and the need to be God-fearing during the rituals.
By A.R. Gomda