The restructured National Hajj Council (NHC) has outlined measures to ensure a problem-free Hajj this year. The measures include quick pre-departure formalities, improved accommodation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and early return home. The Executive Secretary of the NHC, Alhaji Salifu Seidu, gave the assurance at a press conference in Accra yesterday. The press conference was to make public the developments in the operations of the NHC and chart the way forward. Alhaji Seidu said the NHC would not disappoint prospective Ghanaian pilgrims, and that the Council would strive to give them the best of services. He said the NHC would be transparent in its operations by giving out details of all its undertakings. Alhaji Seidu conceded that the NHC did not have sufficient time as it was barely six months to the start of the next Hajj, but said "we are sure to handle the Hajj operations very well. According to him, the NHC had begun contacts with airline operators, and representatives of the Council had started arrangements for accommodation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Alhaji Seidu expressed worry at the delay in the government intended probe of the activities of the Interim Hajj Management Committee (IHMC) that organised last year's Hajj. He spoke against the handpicking of individuals to serve on the NHC and urged government officials to stop entertaining members of the IHMC, since it was the NHC that had the mandate to organise the Hajj. "The NHC therefore is cautioning against all impositions by all manner of subterfuge which go counter to the exercise of due corporate responsibility by the Muslim community," he stressed. Alhaji Seidu again assured prospective pilgrims that "the NHC shall stand firm to carry out its duty of ensuring a hassle-free Hajj". He, therefore, advised prospective pilgrims not to rush in paying any money to any individual, group or organisation until the Council had come out with a package for this year's Hajj. The Chairman of the NHC, Sheikh Mohammed Kamil Mohammed, said the NHC would resist any attempt to thwart the forward match of the Council in ensuring a problem-free Hajj this year. Source: Daily Graphic