Kebba Jobe,
Am not surprised that you are baffled by the excerpts
from my posting. However, I don't think that any
reasonable person will find the two excerpts as being
contradictory or not pertaining to the overall problem
of this year's hajj.
If you read my posting again and take it in its whole,
you will find Pa Njie's particular problems are in
addition to the general chaos that was this year's
hajj for Gambian pilgrims.
It is not just Pa Njie's clients that are still
stranded in Jeddah. Those of GIA have fared only
marginally better than Globe's.
I can understand the role of government in setting
criteria that travel agents must fulfill before being
allowed to take pilgrims for Hajj, but to make GIA the
sole agent for Hajj, when their performance on the
ground is as dismal as any poorly rated agent, would
be unfair and an injustice to the paying public.
Unfortunate though it is, the issue must be viewed in
a political context for the following reason. The cost
of the hajj package was determined by most travel
agents to be around the figure of US$2000. The
exchange rate at the time being D16 to the US Dollar,
meant that travel agents would realistically have to
charge at least D30000 to meet their cost. Then comes
Yaya, who imposes a fee of D24000, with an order/offer
to use his plane, which is being maintained at the tax
payers detriment. Add that to the so called millennium
pilgrims that he was supposed to have sent for hajj
from his own pocket, and you want to tell me this is
not political!
You wait and see how GIA will look when their Alhajis
wait for another 3 months for their valuable shopping
items, which may never arrive.
The Hajj is not an easy undertaking, but any honest
Alhaji would tell you that they have suffered unusual
hardship this year, because of particular problems
relating to Jammeh's millennium company/aircraft. I
hope this further clarifies that which was baffling to
you. Babanding.


--- Kebba Jobe <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Babanding,
>
> You wrote:
>
> "Without doubt it's been the most difficult Hajj in
> recent memory for
> Gambian pilgrims. It all started when Yaya wanted to
> gain some political
> points by controlling the business of Hajj. He
> started by imposing a fixed
> tariff of D24000 for the hajj package. This
> evidently cannot cover the
> overheads of responsible travel agents who want to
> provide safe, secure, and
> comfortable hajj for their clients; hence Banjul
> travel withdrew from this
> years Hajj, and advised their clients to choose any
> other agent of their own
> liking."
>
> Again you wrote:
>
> "With all the problems mentioned above, the plight
> of pilgrims who signed up
> with Pa Njie's globe is even more tragic. It is
> alleged that Pa njie paid
> Yaya's millennium company a cheque that could not be
> honoured by the banks.
> Furious at this audacity, it is again alleged that
> Yaya gave instructions to
> the effect that " even if they all have to die
> there, Pa must pay his
> company before his pilgrims are airlifted out of
> Jeddah". I can't verify the
> truth or otherwise of either claim."
>
> To tell you the truth I am totally baffled by the
> above 2 excerpts I quoted
>
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>
>
> "There is a time in the life of every problem when
> it is big enough to see,
> yet small enough to solve"
>
>                   (MIKE LEAVITT)
>
>
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