By Akram Medhat
Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Minister of Housing, Utilities and New Urban Communities and head of the official Hajj mission, affirmed that all Egyptian pilgrims are well and that there are no complaints or problems affecting this year's Hajj season.
At a press conference he held today in Mecca with the three official specialized missions, namely tourism, social solidarity and interior, he revealed that Egypt's share of Hajj visas this year reached 78,000, in addition to about 35,000 visas outside the official quota, meaning the number of Egyptian pilgrims this year exceeded 110,000, especially after the 20% share was restored and distributed to Islamic countries once the Kingdom completed the expansion of the Grand Mosque in Mecca.
He referred to his visits to the three missions, including the tourism mission, during which he met a large number of pilgrims, explaining that there were only a few complaints at some hotels housing lottery pilgrims, especially the elderly among them, all centering on the distance between the hotels and the Grand Mosque. Contact was made with Major General Amr Lotfy, head of the lottery Hajj mission, who in turn issued instructions to increase the number of buses transporting pilgrims to the Grand Mosque in Mecca to end the problem.
He stressed that the first recommendation in the mission's report is to start preparing for next year's Hajj season, 1439 AH, immediately after the end of the current season, in order to book hotels and secure the best locations close to the Grand Mosque, noting that the increase in numbers this year represents the real challenge for the three missions, especially in Mina, given its limited area.
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