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)