MECCA, Aug 7 — This is not the time for finger pointing, says Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Fuziah Salleh regarding the problems encountered by several groups of Malaysian Haj pilgrims.

Instead, she said, a solution needs to be found so that this problem will not happen again.  

Fuziah however said that the Furada visa was not under the jurisdiction of the Malaysian government.

“The Haj quota is only via Tabung Haji. Special quota and additional quota are all under Tabung Haji. I pray that Allah will ease transactions for those stranded (in Jeddah), so that they arrive home safely,” she told reporters today.

Advertisement

Earlier, Fuziah officiated the Malaysian Pilgrim Masyair Cleanliness Campaign here which was also attended by Malaysian Haj Delegation Head Datuk Seri Syed Saleh Syed Abd Rahman.

The 26 Haj pilgrims who were stranded at the King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah since Monday, arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport today.

The Haj season this year saw 30,200 Malaysian haj pilgrims performing the fifth pillar of Islam aided by 640 TH staff and volunteers.

Advertisement

Meanwhile, Fuziah said eight Malaysian pilgrims had died in the Holy Land and from that figure, six were men while two others were women.

“The causes of death were mainly due to old age, mostly because of secondary infection, such as infection in the lungs and some contracted bacterial infection which later developed into sepsis.

“That is all due to low immune system and like I said, please take care of your health. TH had tried their best to take care of the pilgrims, we will pray for the best,” she said.

Meanwhile, commenting on the campaign, she said that the cleanliness and attitude of Malaysian pilgrims had always received praises especially from the Saudi government.

This, she said, needs to be continued to maintain the good name of the country. — Bernama