Keep identification badges safe, Haj pilgrims told

MAKKAH: Haj pilgrims have been urged to ensure that their identification badges and bracelets issued by Tabung Haji (TH), are with them at all times throughout their pilgrimage in the Holy Land.
TH Makkah operations director Datuk Ahmad Sohaimi Abd Rahim said the pilgrims should take proper care of these two important items as they were used in place of their passports.
"The pilgrims must treat these two items as important documents and keep them safe. Do not misplace or lose them," he told a press conference here today.
He said throughout their stay in the Holy Land, the badge and bracelet serve as personal identification documents as the pilgrims' passports would be held by the Saudi authorities.
Both these items contain crucial personal information of the pilgrims to enable local authorities or others to provide assistance if they encounter problems or fail to contact the TH officers on duty.
Ahmad Sohaimi advised pilgrims to immediately report to the nearest TH customer service counter should they realise that their badges were missing.
"We will record the loss of the items in our system to study the trend and to determine if the losses were due to carelessness or quality of the products, in order for us to make improvements.
Each identification badge carries the pilgrim's passport number, the TH logo and Jalur Gemilang logos as well as the number of the 'maktab' or lodging place written in Arabic script.
The Haj bracelet which bears a phone number to contact for assistance, has a double-lock security feature to ensure it is fully engaged. — Bernama