DOHA: Private tour operators in Qatar conducting the Haj and Umrah trips to Saudi Arabia are agitated by a proposal by the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs to hand over the job to a national company.
The proposal to set up a national company replacing the tour operators is part of draft law to regulate Haj and Umrah pilgrimage. The draft is currently in the Cabinet after it was approved by the Advisory Council.
The tour operators held a meeting on Tuesday and decided to take up the issue with the Advisory Council and the government bodies concerned, a local Arabic daily reported yesterday. A committee was set up at the meeting to address the concerns of the operators as a prelude to establishing a permanent professional body, added the daily.
These licensed tour operators (Muqawils) have been authorised by the Ministry to conduct the Haj and Umrah trips for Qatari and expatriate pilgrims.
Owned by the citizens, these companies are controlled and monitored by the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, which has laid down rules and regulations to organise the sector.
There have been repeated complaints about the performance of some tour operators which apparently has prompted the Ministry to come out with the new proposal.
The Muqawils in the meeting maintained that the proposed national company was experimented in some other Gulf countries and was proved a failure due to poor services. It had also caused a hike in the tariffs for Haj and Umrah, they said.
The Muqawils in Qatar have been operating for several decades and there is no justification in depriving them of their profession, which is the only source of income for many, noted the participants.
The meeting also took exception against a recent decision of the Ministry not to renew the license of the operators aged above 60 and decided to take up this matter with the Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs. They argue that this rule is against the existing law which stipulates that those applying for a licence should be aged between 30 to 60 years. This condition cannot be applied to licence renewal, they feel. Two operators have already been informed by the Ministry that their licences will not be renewed. The panel set up by the tour operators is chaired by Abdul Rahman Al Hammadi. Ibrahim Al Ibrahim is the vice chairman.
The Peninsula
