First group of haj pilgrims arrive home safely

First group of haj pilgrims arrive home safely

JAKARTA (JP): The first batch of Indonesia's 202,000 haj
pilgrims touched downed safely yesterday, with the initial group
led by Minister of Religious Affairs Quraish Shihab landing at
Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, East Jakarta, early in the morning.

The 5:40 a.m. landing with 480 pilgrims on board was followed
by the arrival of haj pilgrims in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan,
and Medan in North Sumatra.

A Garuda Indonesia MD-11 carrying 404 pilgrims landed at
Sepinggan Airport in Balikpapan, while another airplane took 478
pilgrims home to Medan.

"Praise Allah that Indonesian haj pilgrims have completed
their haj pilgrimage, although some unwanted occurrences did
happen," Quraish told journalists upon arrival here.

Quraish was referring to Thursday's stampede in Mina, near the
city of Mecca, where at least 118 -- including two Indonesians --
were killed.

According to the minister, another Indonesian may have died in
the stampede. However, his identity is still being checked.

"There's no clear identity. But what's clear is that he wasn't
part of (this year's) pilgrimage contingent. Most likely he's
probably someone who overstayed, but Indonesian officials are
looking into the matter," he said.

Except for the Mina incident, Quraish expressed satisfaction
at this year's pilgrimage, saying it was "quite enough".

The pilgrims arriving in Jakarta were greeted by several
senior officials from the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Garuda Indonesia's president director, Soepandi, and Jakarta
deputy governor of people's welfare, Djaelani, were also on hand
to greet the first arrivals here.

After disembarking from a Garuda Indonesia Boeing 747, the
pilgrims were transferred by bus to the haj dormitory in Pondok
Gede, East Jakarta, where their families and relatives were
waiting.

Shabby

Asked to comment on his observations while leading the
pilgrimage, Quraish expressed concern at the accommodation for
Indonesian pilgrims, especially in the city of Mecca.

He said 15 percent of the dormitories for Indonesian haj
pilgrims in Mecca were "shabby and messy".

"I am particularly still not satisfied with the dormitory. We
can still improve on this," he said as quoted by Antara.

"The Saudi government has well prepared the dormitories. But
we still need to reconsider many other aspects, including the
budget allocation for the dormitory."

Quraish said Indonesian haj pilgrims could obtain better
accommodation with a bigger budget allocation, or haj organizers
could find dormitories with better facilities further out of
town.

"Then, a special transportation vehicle could be provided to
take haj pilgrims to Masjidil Haram," he suggested.

Twenty-six Garuda Indonesia airplanes are scheduled to make
some 450 flights to bring the pilgrims home from Saudi Arabia.

Garuda Indonesia president director Soepandi said the national
flag carrier would keep striving to improve its services for
pilgrims.

However, he said delays were sometimes unavoidable given the
heavy congestion at King Abdul Aziz Airport in Jeddah.

He added that Indonesia, having the biggest contingent of
pilgrims, had already been allotted two of the 12 gates at the
airport. (aan)