Accra, March. 13, - Sheikh I.C
Quaye, the Chairman of the Hajj Board, has announced that the fare for this year’s
2018 Hajj pilgrimage is GH₵15,000.00,
an equivalent of $3,450.00.
He said the actual fare Is
GH¢19,500.00 but government has absorbed GH¢4,500.00 of the cost to enable more
pilgrims to perform the Hajj.
Sheikh Quaye, who made this known
at the official launch of the 2018 Hajj season in Accra, said the board would
accept a direct full payment into the Hajj Account with Unibank.
He said some officials of the
Pilgrims Affairs Office of Ghana have been assigned to specifically handle
those who pay directly to the Board.
Sheikh I.C said late payment of
the Hajj package would not be accepted because it causes delays and makes
planning very difficult.
He said the late payment affects
the Hajj operations with grave consequences and therefore the deadline for
payment would be June 30, 2018, adding that, there shall be no extension of the
date whatsoever.
“Pilgrims who pay up before the
deadline would be airlifted to Mecca, irrespective of whether our quota has
been attained or not,” he said.
He said Hajj fares keep rising
due to the introduction of new policies by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which
would significantly affect Hajj transactions and services.
He said key amongst these new
policies, was the introduction of five per cent VAT on goods and services, due
to the diversification of the Saudi economy and its consequential implications.
He said pilgrims performing the
Hajj more than once shall pay a penalty of GH₵3,000.00, chargeable before Visa acquisition.
The rational according to Saudi
authorities he said, was to prevent multiple performance of Hajj.
He said there was also an
increase in social amenities as well as accommodation, transport, flight fares,
catering and general service fees, but with the reduction of taxes and
interventions, Ghanaian pilgrims are paying the lowest fare.
He said due to a new immigration
policy by the Saudi Kingdom, pilgrims would undergo finger-print data
collection in Ghana before departing.
He said medical teams charged
with the responsibility to manage programmes that would ensure the effective
and efficient management of the health needs of pilgrims both in Ghana and in
the kingdom of Saudi Arabia shall kick start its activities with a health
screening exercise.
He further stated that, this
year, the welfare team would be categorized into three units, which includes
the luggage handlers, meet and assist and that of security.
“We therefore call on would be
pilgrims to, as a matter of urgency, begin payments now without delay for there
shall be no extensions at all.
He said this was important to the
Board as the timelines provided by the Saudi Authorities for the payments of
Hajj services were so tight and that failure to conform could cost us the Hajj
all together.
Sheikh I.C advised the pilgrims
to start practising the processes and rituals of the Hajj and Umrah, be physically fit and be each other’s keeper
throughout their stay in Mecca.
He encouraged the pilgrims to
desist from travelling with prohibited items, as well as human trafficking in
particular, which attracts harsh sentence if caught.
The Hajj board, under the
chairmanship of Sheik I.C Quaye, pledged that they would do everything possible
to facilitate a memorable 2018 Hajj.
GNA
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