Better haj management

Better haj management

One thing stands out in this year's haj operation, which
enters its seventh day today: it's relatively trouble-free
compared to the chaos of previous operations. What has been
described by some people as the "biggest peace-time airlift
operation" in history is also the most orderly we have seen.

Kudos to the government, which coordinates the operation to
send some 197,000 Indonesian Moslems on the holy pilgrimage to
Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Troubles in the past developed in the
first stages of the operation. This has given us hope that this
year's operation will run smoothly until the last pilgrims return
home in May.

It is always difficult to measure the success of such a
massive operation because there is no comparison. The closest
example, in terms of airlifting and logistics, is the U.S.-led
Desert Storm operation in 1991, which brought troops from various
parts of the globe to the Saudi desert.

The scale is similar, but the management of 200,000 civilians
is more complicated than disciplined troops. The best measure we
have is past operations. Since this operation occurs every year,
it is only natural to expect that the government strive to
improve its past performance each year.

Learning from past mistakes, for example, the government this
year secured the cooperation of the Saudi Arabian embassy in
Jakarta to issue all the visas for the pilgrims one month before
departure. Surakarta was added as a sixth embarkation point to
ease congestion in Jakarta, Medan, Surabaya, Ujungpandang and
Balikpapan.

The government did away with unnecessary ceremonials, such as
the traditional long speeches in sending off the first pilgrims.
The past practice of leasing aging planes that tended to break
down was also stopped. The use of a national computer network
during registration prevented overbookings, which last year
forced thousands of people to be bumped off the list even after
they paid their fees. Other smaller measures have also been
introduced which has improved the operation.

In any management, there is no time for complacency. There is
always room for improvement. The massive haj operation is no
exception. Some problems have been ignored because the organizers
have been preoccupied with ensuring a smooth operation.

For example, it is public knowledge that some people, with
insiders' help, have turned what is essentially a spiritual
undertaking into a lucrative money-spinning swindling operation.
There have been allegations of massive embezzlements in the
absence of an independent auditing of this multimillion dollar
operation. And there is the nagging question why the fee that
Indonesians have to pay (Rp 7.55 million or $3,200) is the
highest compared to other Moslems pay in the region.

Those who have the privilege to travel to Mecca may not
complain -- not loudly at least -- because hundreds of thousands
of others are waiting in line, but this is no reason to rip
people off. Many pilgrims have been saving all their life, or
have sold their farms or livestock, to perform the fifth and last
of the Islamic tenets.

Some constructive suggestions have already come forward on how
to improve the operation and cut costs, such as the use of
scheduled flights. Sulastomo, the chairman of the Indonesian Haj
Brotherhood Association, proposed that Saudi Arabia do away with
haj visas since Indonesian pilgrims travel on passports specially
issued for the pilgrimage. We are in no position to tell the
Saudi government how to run its visa policy, but the Indonesian
government could do away with the special passports and save
pilgrims money.

While such a huge operation can only be carried out under the
coordination of the government, there is no reason why it could
not adopt modern management practices that have been well tested
in the private sector. Future efforts to improve the haj
operation should address the issue of fees and financial
management.