Shakeel denies ‘tampering’ with hajj waitlist; full list to be publicized soon

Mohamed Shakeel, the managing director of Maldives Hajj Corporation, has denied allegations the corporation tampered with the waitlist for hajj pilgrimage by putting people ahead in the list.

Several people on the waitlist have reported that they have been moved further down the list.

A 56-year-old man who booked a pilgrimage tour for him and his wife two years back told Sun that they had been ranked in the 500s earlier this year, but have now slipped to 600s on the waitlist.

“How is this possible if they aren’t tampering with the hajj quota? We have made the full payment and are waiting for our chance to embark on the holy pilgrimage. This is so disappointing,” said the man, who had put years of savings into making the pilgrimage.

But Shakeel told Sun on Wednesday that the changes aren’t because people are being put ahead in the list.

Shakeel said that the system had been set based on the projection that 850 people would make the hajj pilgrimage this year. But he said that 714 people had made the trip this year. He said that the 136 people who were unable to make the trip this year had therefore been put on the top of the waitlist for next year.

“The thing is, there are certain challenges in checking all this because the full list isn’t publicized. I acknowledge that. But out of the 850 people who were expected to go this year, only 714 people made the trip. The remaining 136 people were unable to go. These people are carried forward to next year. When they go on top of the list, the others move down,” he said.

“…Its not that people are being sneaked into the list. And its not that people who paid later are being moved up the list. There is no room for such things,” he said.

Shakeel said the Hajj Corporation is working on publicizing the full list soon. He said that this will allow people to check the list “anytime, anywhere.”

“In Sha Allah, there is no chance for people to be sneaked into the list. I will not allow that chance for as long as I remain here. Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. I will not allow for any tampering related to this pillar of Islam. I assure you of this,” he said.

Shakeel said that 850 is an “impossible” number. He said that this, coupled with the lack of publicization of the full list, was the reason for the confusion and the complaints.

“We are doing the internal works on this. In Sha Allah, the public will be able to view the full list with the queue number soon. It can be accessed anytime, even if someone should want to do an audit,” he said.

The Maldives usually receives an annual hajj quota of 1,000 pilgrims from Saudi Arabia. Part of the quota had previously gone to private hajj tour groups. However, the government decided last year that the full quota would go to the Hajj Corporation.

Islamic Minister Dr. Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed later said that the government was considering giving quotas to private groups again if the Saudi government increases the quota next year.

Shakeel previously said that the Hajj Corporation currently sends people on hajj pilgrimage at a loss to the corporation. The current rate of MVR 69,965 for hajj pilgrimage was set back in 2013. According to Shakeel, the corporation suffers a loss of MVR 30 million for every 3,000 pilgrims.