OK, I give up, I don't get it!

I had always assumed that Hajj travel, like any other travel, is a free
enterprise business in our country, open to all competitors in the travel
industry in The Gambia, like elsewhere.
That any and all travel agencies were free to put together competitive Hajj
Travel packages which they can market freely to prospectives Hajees, and
these people can then choose freely which travel agency to go with depending
on that travel agemcys' reputation Re: good customer service and
satisfaction, reputation, recommendation from former satisfied customers etc.

From what I have been reading on the L, it appears that somehow, a group of
people are able to control the Hajj travel industry in The Gambia such that
they can actually contract out to chosen travel agencies to provide Hajj
packages.

So it appears that somehow, a group of MIDDLEMEN have somehow appeared and
can somehow lay claim to  Hajj travel in The Gambia in general, so that they
are then able to actually contract out to chosen travel agencies whom they
pay a certain set amount, while charging the pilgrims a marked-up price
thereby making a profit.

Please someone correct me if my above assumption is wrong, and if it si
right, how in heavens' name is such a situation possible and how did it come
to pass?

Have things gotten so currupt that now there is a mafia controlling even the
Hajj and how is it that these people who have laid claim to this industry as
theirs' to contract out can force pilgrims and their loved ones to accept to
contract only with them?

Maybe I missed the boat on this one, so I need someone to explain it to me
real slowly so I can understand.

Jabou Joh

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~