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.