Committee to handle returning pilgrims

Committee to handle returning pilgrims

JAKARTA (JP): The city administration has established a
special committee to welcome Jakartans returning from the
pilgrimage to Mecca.

Mubarok, head of the Jakarta Office of the Ministry of
Religious Affairs, told reporters that the committee is meant to
help returning pilgrims through the immigration processes at the
Halim Perdanakusuma Airport and to transport them to the Pondok
Gede Haj dormitory in East Jakarta.

"The priority will be given mainly to elderly people and those
who are in poor health," Mubarok said.

The committee will consist of 60 members, who will be on call
24 hours a day starting from May 15.

Mubarok explained there will be three steps which the haj
pilgrims will have to abide by. They are the immigration process
at the airport, the quarantine (medical checkup) process, also at
the airport, and the customs process at the haj dormitory.

"The team's jobs include assisting haj pilgrims from Jakarta
to get into buses to the dormitory and reporting missing baggage
to the lost and found department," Mubarok said.

The team will start its job on May 15, when the first flight
from Mecca arrives. Their duty will continue through June 2, when
the last haj flight arrives, he said.

"This is the first committee ever set up by the city
administration. This reflects its intention to give better
service to haj pilgrims," he said.

There was chaos during the pilgrimage departure period this
year. More than 1,000 people were stranded at the dormitory for
days because their fights were delayed several times.

Due to the delays, some of them were forced to stay at the
dormitory for several days, instead of just one day, before
boarding their planes.

Those whose departures were delayed were mostly pilgrims from
Jakarta. Only a few difficulties were encountered by pilgrims
from other regions.

There are 31,286 Jakartans conducting the haj pilgrimage to
Mecca this year, down from 37,116 people registered earlier.
(yns)