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)