COLOMBO, Sri Lanka Haj Committees chairman Reyaz Mihular has reacted to various articles published in the local and print media,here.
Full text if his statement !
” On behalf of the Hajj Committee, I wish to respond to the following 2 articles which appeared in the Lankadeepa and subsequently in the Daily Mirror, 2 newspapers which I subscribe to and respect.
“437 Prospective Hajj Pilgrims allege loss of Hajj Opportunity due to Committee lapses”
This year the Saudi Ministry of Hajj & Umrah (SMOHU) significantly advanced the deadlines for payments to be made to book the campsites at Mina & Arafat and related transport arrangements by almost 9 months before the start of the Hajj Pilgrimage. Since we had not yet started the interview process to select operators for Hajj 2026, we had to seek bank financing to make payments of approx. Rs.1.9Bn to reserve these campsites; failure to do so within the stipulated deadline would have meant that none of our prospective pilgrims would have been able to perform Hajj in 2026.
Accordingly, the Committee floated a limited tender calling for proposals from 3 banks (the Islamic windows of the 2 state banks & Amana Bank) for provision of this financing requirement based on the security of future cashflows from the Hajj Account that we proposed for pilgrims to open with a deposit of Rs. 750,000/- in the selected bank, to secure a place within the quota of 3500 allocated to Sri Lanka. Since Amana Bank was the only responsive bank who responded fully to the TOR of the limited tender, they were selected as the bank for this scheme. The deposits that pilgrims opened with Amana Bank to secure a place was in their own names and they received profit returns for the period the money stayed in their account.
We communicated extensively and repeatedly, from as far back as September 2025, on the need for pilgrims to open this account early to secure a place and informed that places within the quota will be allocated on a first come first basis. Accordingly, all pilgrims who opened such accounts up to the morning of 26th December 2025 were accommodated within the quota. We also maintained a waiting list of up to 10% of the quota, to be on standby, to take up any vacancies that arise due to the confirmed pilgrims withdrawing from the pilgrimage for reasons of ill-health or grave family circumstances. As at date, 43 pilgrims on the waiting list have received confirmed slots on account of withdrawals due to reasons specified earlier, leaving 350 pilgrims still on the waiting list. We have installed a computerized system to ensure that no outside intervention is possible in the allocation of places to those on the waiting list. Those who do not get an opportunity to get a confirmed slot due to their late opening of accounts, will be given 1st priority in next years Hajj and the moneys deposited in their Hajj account can be withdrawn by them from Amana Bank at their convenience.
I hope the above explanation clarifies the situation regarding the waiting list and that we have adopted a fair and transparent process with respect to this. If those on the waiting list had heeded our repeated communication and opened accounts without waiting for the last moment, they would not have been in this situation.
“Rs 110Mn owed to Hajj Operators remains unaccounted for”
This payment of SR 362 was paid by the operators directly to the Service Provider last year “Al Baith” and the Hajj Committee had no role in this transaction. This payment had apparently been paid by the operators seeking enhanced facilities in the campsites in Mina & Arafat. The Hajj Committee had specified minimum standards for facilities in Mina & Arafat, which was that they should be in Zone 2 with Category B facilities, which was significantly appreciated by all the pilgrims last year. We also specified that facilities in Mina & Arafat should be the same for all pilgrims with no differentiation within the camp.
Consequently, the operators sought a refund from the Service Provider of the amount paid by them. Payments for Hajj related services operate through a Wallet system and Service Providers cannot refund moneys to the operators accounts directly. Although, we had nothing to do with the transaction, the Hajj Committee offered to speak to the Service Provider requesting them to transfer the refunds to our Hajj Committee Wallet, which we can thereafter transfer locally to the operators concerned. The Service Provider has agreed to make the refund to our Wallet after obtaining the necessary approvals from the SMOHU and we expect this to happen within the next few weeks.
The article tends to portray as if the whole transaction was an initiative of the Hajj Committee and tends to apportion blame on us. I wish to reiterate, that we at the Hajj Committee had no role in this transaction and we only offered to intervene with the Service Provider to get the money back to the operators as a favour.
I hope the responses that I have provided sets the correct context with respect to the 2 matters referred to above. I found it strange that the articles stated that efforts to contact the Chairman of the Hajj Committee was unsuccessful. I have always been available at all times to provide clarifications on any matters. My contact number can be easily obtained from the Director of the Department, to whom the operator had spoken with.'”
