Senior Minister Fowzie alleges Hajj pilgrims swindled

Dharma Sri Abeyratne

Senior Minister for Urban Affairs AHM Fowzie said an inquiry will be conducted into several malpractices connected to the Hajj pilgrimage.

The minister addressing media yesterday said certain financially motivated tour operators had on several instances resorted to malpractices that impacted on Hajj pilgrims, such as, charging excess money, not providing the agreed facilities etc.

He requested pilgrims who had been swindled to complain to him since he is one of the two coordinators of Hajj affairs.

The Minister added that 3,022 pilgrims performed the Hajj pilgrimage this year. Some pilgrims were charged up to Rs 700,000 by four operators while others charged Rs 400,000. Besides, certain pilgrims were not given the promised facilities. "It can be considered that Rs 400,00 is reasonable" the Minister said.

Therefore, a full scale probe will be conducted into the issue with the assistance of Hajj affirms coordinating committee, Minister said.

He further said the UAE, Iran, Saudi Arabia and a few other countries will send dates to Sri Lanka as usual. On the advice of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, an import duty will not be charged on the dates.