BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, May 22 (Borneo Bulletin/ANN): For the this year's Haj season (1444 Hijrah), the Saudi Arabia Government has allowed the implementation of haj pilgrimage from all countries according to the initial haj quota prior to Covid-19.
Following this, Brunei’s haj quota has been restored to 1,000 individuals, and from the total, 746 intending haj pilgrims chose Darussalam Services Sendirian Berhad (DSSB) as their haj operator.
This was shared by Darussalam Holdings Sendirian Berhad (DHSB) Managing Director Haji Mahmud bin Haji Mohamed, as head of delegation during a pre-departure briefing for intending haj pilgrims yesterday.
“The haj cost has increased every year and spiked even higher this year. It was reported that the average haj cost has increased by 30 per cent compared to the previous year.
The increased cost is not only due to Covid-19, but was earlier announced by the Government of Saudi Arabia since they introduced VISION 2023. In addition, facilities provided for pilgrims have been significantly improved,” he said.
“The improvement on infrastructure, the expansion of Masjidil Haram area, improvement on the service quality in the aspects of safety, accommodation and transportation in Makkah and Madinah has been evident in recent years,” he said.
“This was carried out to enable Saudi Arabia to receive more pilgrims at one time and speed up the process for Muslims to perform the fifth pillar of Islam.” - Borneo Bulletin/ANN
