MAKKAH (July 25): The agreement between Tabung Haji (TH) and four baggage handling companies has entered into its final term this year after having been extended for one year under the two-plus-one contract.

TH External Services Unit manager Akmal Abdul Rahim said the contract was extended as TH was satisfied with the services provided by the companies in the last two haj seasons.

“The four baggage handling companies are Pos Malaysia Bhd, Shah Cargo, Koperasi Tabung Haji Logistics and Nation Wide Express,” he told reporters here today.

According to Akmal, the rates for the goods delivery service to Malaysia were SR16 per kg for the peninsula and SR20 per kg for Sabah and Sarawak.

He said the charges for the delivery of 10 litres of zam zam water were SR130 for Peninsular Malaysia, and SR150 for Sabah and Sarawak.

“The rate of prices has been agreed upon by both parties (TH and four baggage handling companies). We should also look at the costs incurred by the companies including their operational cost here,” he said.

As such, Akmal encouraged pilgrims to post their goods using the service provided by the companies appointed by TH to avoid from being imposed extra charges on excess baggage.

He said the four companies would also be re-evaluated based on this year’s performance to decide whether to offer them a new contract or otherwise next year.

Meanwhile, Akmal said besides the delivery and handling of baggage, the TH External Services Unit also provided other services such as catering, cafeteria, laundry and i-Talk service managed by Telekom Malaysia Bhd.

“The TH External Services Unit will always monitor all the services to ensure they are in compliance with the standard operating procedures and we are able to deliver the best service to the pilgrims,” he said adding that the monitoring would be carried out before and after the Wukuf day.