REVISIÓN Y SELECCIÓN DE LOS ALGORITMOS DE APRENDIZAJE NO

Participants were asked to describe their awareness of and experience with Hajj staff.

Although there was limited interaction with local Saudis, participants talked about the difficulties of managing the crowds during Hajj, as well as positive experiences interacting with and observing staff members. Participants were eager to praise the management of the Hajj. Some acknowledged the scale of the task facing those responsible for crowd management:

I think the management and the logistics behind it; they must have worked very hard to make things that way. (UP11HA01)

Another, who had attended the Hajj on several occasions, remarked on the improvements that had been made to Jamarat where many of the crowd problems have occurred before:

I’ve been several times and I’ve seen the differences, they’ve done an extremely good job, especially in Jamarat… it was very well organized (UP11HA04)

4.3.7.1 Well-managed

Participants spoke of appropriate procedures, measures and of their experience that constant improvements were being made (evolution):

It was very well managed. When you comment about the staff you have to look at their bosses, their managers and I think that they put a very good programme in place. It must take a lot of time, a lot of training. I know from my own work and I think it was managed beautifully really, very impressed with that side of things. (UP11HA01)

4.3.7.2 Effective information and signage systems

Participants were generally positive about the available information and signage:

The signs were pretty explicit. (UP11HA02)

Although one participant noted that improvements could be made:

It’s good but it’s a way for improvement. It’s always an improvement. Around the Haram, yes it’s good, but slightly outside the Haram it could be more of signs to indicate directions and maybe public toilets or things like that. But it’s good.

(UP11HA03)

4.3.7.3 Adequate staff numbers

Most participants indicated that the number of staff was effective in providing the appropriate service in terms of the number and presence around the clock:

Haram staff, they’re very professional. The reason I say very professional, when they have millions – millions come – and everyone begs you to, we are human beings at the end of the day, who will give up in the end, and they don’t keep the order we won’t have an ordered Haram. (UP11HA04)

Yes there were where ever you went from the airports, to the roads, to the Haram itself; there were plenty of staff, yes. (UP11HA01)

4.3.7.4 Faith in the ability of the emergency services

Of the emergency services, one participant remarked, “I think they do a good job”

(UP11HA03) and another, who had personal experience of receiving assistance from emergency staff, echoed this:

I felt sick a couple of times and I was seen straight away and that was fine.

(UP11HA01)

Though the emergency services do a good job, the main problem is the ability to gain access:

I think that is a quite a difficult problem for the authorities because if someone like say falls down and they get hurt for the ambulance crowd to for them to come in and look after this it can’t be two minute job because it can be very difficult if someone is very close to the Kaaba for them to be called and then make their way in and pick up this person I think there will be a lot of people willing to help this person who gets injured but for the medical staff to get there it’s not that easy simply because of how big the crowd is. (UP11HA03).

4.3.7.5 Relations with police

The role of police in maintaining order is crucial for managing such large numbers of people.

The challenge faced by the police was described thus:

It’s a great challenge really because although people might know where to go, still they’ve got to be marshalled, they’ve got to be routed and you can’t just leave them.

(UP11HA04)

Several of the participants praised the police for the many ways in which they carried out their task:

They are very professional. [They] keep the order and they’re very patient.

(UP11HA04)

One participant shared these sentiments, but expressed surprise to find this was the case:

I was very pleasantly surprised to see them [be] very helpful actually. (UP11HA02)

4.3.7.6 Hajjis and local Saudis

In an effort to distinguish the nature of the relationship between the pilgrims and the local Saudis, these commentaries represent the point of view and experience of participants:

On each and every occasion they were very kind to us they would make it as easy as possible for us to pass through the checks we needed to, which have to be done. And they were polite with us, despite the volumes of people I thought they would be very stressed but they were very relaxed. They gave us food and books and what more can you ask really? (UP11HA02)

Although one participant noted that:

I personally I think they do a good job under very difficult conditions because you’ve got millions of people coming at you all the time all the time all the time you’ve got to keep your eyes open you can’t sit down and close your eyes you’ve got to be very alert as to what’s going on and really it’s very important that when they see a problem these people take a decision you might not like it but they’ve got to take a decision that is the best for everyone there. (UP11HA01).

4.3.7.7 Hajjis and Haram staff

From the participants’ perspective, they think that the staff inside the Haram did a good job in the circumstances of a large-scale gathering.

They were doing a good job, I mean the Haram itself was beautifully kept and was clean. They spend billions on it, very impressed by the Haram itself. (UP11HA01)