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Suspense surrounds names of low-cost Haj operators

August 18, 2014

Jeddah, Aug 18: The Haj Ministry is all set to hand over accommodation blocks in Mina to low-cost Haj operators ahead of the annual pilgrimage.

The ministry, however, has still not announced the names of the operators who have been allotted the housing, which enables local pilgrims to perform Haj at reduced costs.Mina Hajj

The Civil Defense, Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), National Water Company (NWC) and other agencies finalized site inspections last week. Haj Minister Bandar Hajar also inspected the site.

“Providers are not allowed to modify structures allotted to them and are required to provide a comprehensive security system to prevent unauthorized entry into housing units meant for low-cost pilgrims,” said Sahil Al-Sabyan, a senior official at the Haj Ministry.

Around 41,000 pilgrims within the Kingdom will be performing Haj this year under the scheme, which was introduced by the ministry last year. More than 17,000 pilgrims were able to benefit from the scheme the first time it ran.

The 50 percent reduction in the quota of local pilgrims triggered a price war last year, prompting the ministry to focus more on low-cost accommodation this year.

The 41,000 pilgrims will be distributed among 62 operators.

Many pilgrims have expressed frustration over the fact that the names of the operators of low-cost Haj has not been announced.

“I hope to perform Haj if I qualify for the low-cost category, otherwise I will just go home on vacation,” said Mohammed Ali Azad, an Indian expatriate.

“I also tried to qualify last year, but was unable to find any low-cost operators despite reading ads in the media. Unfortunately, the issue seems as unclear this year too.”

The low-cost Haj scheme is divided into eight categories, ranging from SR1,500 for an e-class package to SR7,500 for the a-class category depending on the Haj services provided in each package.

The Haj Ministry has made arrangements for a total of 168,000 to perform Haj this year.

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Agencies
April 26,2020

Riyadh, Apr 26: The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia has issued an order to partially lift the curfew in all regions of the Kingdom, to become from 9am to 5pm, starting Sunday through Wednesday May 13, while keeping a 24-hour curfew in the holy city of Makkah and in previously isolated neighbourhoods, state news agency (SPA) said early on Sunday.

The order also allowed the opening of some economic and commercial activities, which include wholesale and retail shops in addition to malls.

They can operate for two weeks, beginning on April 29 (Wednesday) until May 13 (Ramadan 6-20), however, certain shops within malls like beauty clinics, barber salons, gyms, cinemas, and restaurants will continue to be restricted from reopening.

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Agencies
February 5,2020

Paris, Feb 5: Saudi Arabia has reported an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N8 bird flu virus on a poultry farm, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said on Tuesday, February 4.

The outbreak, which occurred in the central Sudair region, killed 22,700 birds, the OIE said, citing a report from the Saudi agriculture ministry.

The other 385,300 birds in the flock were slaughtered, it said.

The case was the first outbreak of the H5N8 virus in Saudi Arabia since July 2018.

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News Network
March 23,2020

Dubai, Mar 23: All inbound, outbound and transit passenger flights to and from the United Arab Emirates – home to one of the world’s busiest hubs – are to be suspended for two weeks.

The UAE’s National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority (NCEMA) and General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has announced that passenger flights to, from and through the country will be suspended from 25 March for a period of two weeks, in order to “curb the spread of the Covid-19”.

Freight and emergency evacuation flights will still be permitted to operate.

The suspension affects major global hubs in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Dubai-based Emirates has already announced that it will suspend most of its passenger flights from 25 March.

“Additional examination and isolation arrangements will be taken later should flights resume, in order to ensure the safety of passengers, air crews and airport personnel and their protection from infection risks,” state the NCEMA and the GCAA.

Dubai International Airport was the third-busiest airport in the world in 2018, handling 89 million passengers.

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