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 > > if you have problems accessing the web interface and > remember to write your > full name and e-mail address. > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > "There is a time in the life of every problem when > it is big enough to see, > yet small enough to solve" > > (MIKE LEAVITT) > > _________________________________________________________________________ > Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at > http://www.hotmail.com. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of > postings, go to the Gambia-L > Web interface at: > http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html > You may also send subscription requests to > [log in to unmask] > if you have problems accessing the web interface and > remember to write your full name and e-mail address. > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------