1,083 buses found unfit for use in Haj

Nada Al-Maddah
Saudi Gazette

MAKKAH – A total of 1,083 buses have been found unsuitable to transport pilgrims during this year’s Haj as they failed to meet the minimum requirements imposed by the General Cars Syndicate, said Marwan Zubaidi, the organization’s secretary-general.

The executive committee on monitoring pilgrims’ buses sent a letter to the syndicate asking it not to permit buses that failed to meet requirements to work during the Haj season. The committee said some of the buses’ specifications had been altered and others suffered from various types of mechanical malfunctions due to a lack of regular maintenance.

Many of the buses deployed for Haj service remain unused for the rest of the year.

Zubaidi said the committee notified three companies that they should modify the specifications to meet the required standards for Haj buses; however, the companies had not responded to the committee’s notification.

“Until Sunday, 1,150,434 pilgrims have been transported from entry points to Makkah and Madinah while the number of trips was 49,900,” he added.
The syndicate has readied 20,000 buses for the transportation of 1.5 million pilgrims from Makkah to Mina and Arafat during the Haj, which starts on Wednesday.

The buses have a combined seat capacity of 900,000.