Air-conditioned tents have been mounted by the National Hajj Committee (NHC) near the El-Wak Stadium in Accra to accommodate prospective Muslim pilgrims proceeding to Mecca to perform this year�s Hajj. This is the first time such tents have been mounted in advance for the holy pilgrimage.
The tents, suitable for habitation, were partly sponsored by the government and have giant television screens and wolen carpets fitted in them. The female tent takes 300 people at a time, while the male one takes 200. Prospective pilgrims are expected to stay in the tent within 48 hours before their departure to the Kingdom of Audi Arabia.
The tents are some of the facilities provided at the Hajj Village by Creater Digital Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of Zoomlion, for the NHC.
Other facilities at the Hajj Village are: a clinic, separate washrooms, toilet facilities and spaces for ablution for males and females, a canteen and an office for the NHC. Workers of Creater Digital were seen putting finishing touches to the facilities when members of the NHC conducted some journalists round the facilities yesterday.�
The Chairman of the NHC, Alhaji Alhassan Bene, said the erection of the air-conditioned tents and the other facilities was meant to prevent the situation where pilgrims slept in the open at Aviance for days under dehumanizing conditions before their departure for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj.
He said the Minister of Defence, Lt. Gen. Joseph Henry Smith (rtd), had offered to deploy personnel of the Military Police to maintain security at the Village. Mr Bene said for the first time the NHC would fly the pilgrims from the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions direct to the Hajj Village and keep them there within two days before their departure.
He said the pilgrims would depart on a daily basis, with the first batch leaving on November 10, 2009 with Egypt Air from Accra to Madina, where they would visit Prophet Mohammed�s Mosque before they journey to Mecca to start the Hajj rites, which starts around December 24, 2009. The last batch of pilgrims leaves on November 18, 2009. The return journey starts on December 12, 2009 and ends on December 20, 2009.
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