Ensuring Hajj Quality, DPR Prepares to Deploy Supervisory Team to Holy Land

The House of Representatives (DPR) plans to deploy the 2026 Hajj Supervisory Team to ensure the quality of this year’s Hajj pilgrimage services. The team will depart in two waves. Commission VIII Chairman of the DPR RI, Marwan Dasopang, stated that they will document all findings and field conditions in detail during the supervision process. “In the DPR Hajj Supervisory Team’s oversight, it is impossible for all findings to be recorded by members themselves. Therefore, a support team will be attached to ensure all issues, services, and potential problems are properly recorded,” he said during the DPR Hajj Supervisory Team Meeting at the Senayan Parliamentary Complex, Jakarta, on Wednesday (13/05). He added that the DPR Hajj Supervisory Team will work comprehensively and rigorously in overseeing this year’s Hajj pilgrimage. Strict supervision will be conducted from the pilgrims’ departure process in Indonesia to the peak of the rituals in Armuzna (Arafah, Muzdalifah, and Mina). In opening the meeting, he emphasised that DPR supervision must be based on field findings, which will serve as material for the national evaluation of the 2026 Hajj implementation. “Our focus is not only in Makkah and Madinah, but from the point where pilgrims depart from here. Even when pilgrims land in Madinah, that is already part of our supervision notes,” said Marwan Dasopang. Focus on supervising accommodation, catering, health, and transport. Marwan explained that the Supervisory Team’s oversight will focus on several vital sectors of pilgrim services, from hotel accommodation, food, health services, to transportation. For the accommodation sector, the DPR Hajj Supervisory Team will ensure that pilgrims’ hotels comply with the DPR RI Hajj Working Committee (Panja) decision, namely a maximum distance of 4.5 kilometres from the worship centre. However, the DPR Hajj Supervisory Team has found hotels suspected of violating that decision, with distances reaching around 13 kilometres from the Masjidil Haram. “This will be the object of our review. There are hotels that exceed the Panja decision and that must be checked directly,” he stressed. Attention is also directed to the Jabal Ka’bah area, which is the drop-off point for pilgrims from buses. That location is considered quite challenging for elderly pilgrims as they must walk about 1.5 kilometres to the Masjidil Haram on an uphill road. During the meeting, Supervisory Team members also reminded that around 21,000 elderly pilgrims are potentially affected by that condition, especially when the Shalawat bus operations are halted ahead of the peak Hajj.