Government hopes for orderly haj departure
Government hopes for orderly haj departure
JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Religious Affairs yesterday received 125,000 passports, all stamped with Saudi visas, for people who will take part in the haj pilgrimage, from the Saudi Arabia embassy in Jakarta.
The Saudi embassy, the object of controversy last year over delays in issuing the visas, promised to release 70,000 more passports before March 23, when the first of 455 flights are supposed to leave for Mecca.
"Let's hope this year we won't have any problems with visas or anything else," Ahmad Gozali, director-general for Islamic and haj affairs, said after accepting the passports from Saudi ambassador Abdullah Abdulrahman Alim.
Ahmad praised the embassy for speeding up the processing of applications.
Ambassador Abdullah said all the visas this year would be issued before the Indonesian government' haj operation is due to be launched.
"I hope there will be no more arguments about suspended flights," he said through a translator.
The embassy's first secretary, Fouad Sindi, told reporters that his office hired 20 Indonesians to join an embassy staff of 30 to help process the visa applications. At one time, the embassy was stamping as many as 10,000 visas a day, he said.
Last year, the haj operation turned chaotic in the first days when many people who were booked on the first flights turned out not to have been issued with the necessary visas. Some of the planes had to leave half-empty as a result, while airports and dormitories here were congested.
A total of 195,000 people have applied to join the haj pilgrimage to Mecca this year, which will peak on April 28 with Idul Adha (Sacrifice Day). Officials said hundreds of people had canceled their pilgrimage for various reasons, but stated that their seats would not be reassigned to others.
Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher, whose office is coordinating the haj operation, is scheduled to leave for Saudi Arabia tomorrow to oversee last-minute preparations at the other end.
Ahmad Gozali said that to prevent the massive congestion seen last year, this time round those who have not been issued with Saudi visas would not be summoned to haj dormitories. (01)