7,000 Workers To Be Employed For The Coming Haj Season

MAKKAH, June 20 (Bernama) -- About 7,000 Saudi workers will be employed to assist pilgrims for the coming haj season, chairman of the Southeast Asia Muassasah, Mustafa H. Damanhouri said. He said that the Southeast Asia Muassasah would be assisted by 120 agencies from Indonesia, six agencies from Thailand and three each from Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei to handle the haj pilgrims for the coming season. Mustafa, who spoke in Arabic, said this to Malaysian journalists through an interpreter, a Tabung Haji officer, Hasbullah Ahmad, here on Friday. For the convenience of about 1.2 million Muslims who are expected to converge to the holy land for the haj pilgrim this year, he said, the Saudi Arabia government would introduce the electronic haj system or 'e-hajj'. He said the 'e-hajj' is an integration of the haj and umrah management system used in other countries. "It is aimed at improving efficiency of the haj and umrah management," he added. Mustapa said the muassasah would also provide pilgrims with a card containing important contact numbers. He said the coming haj season was expected to be hot and advised potential haj pilgrims to prepare themselves for the hot weather. -- BERNAMA