Hajj Minister Evaluates Hajj Operations in West Papua and Southwest Papua
Sorong (ANTARA) - Minister of Hajj and Umrah Mochamad Irfan Yusuf has evaluated the organisation of the 1447 Hijriah/2026 hajj pilgrimage in West Papua and Southwest Papua (PBD) as an effort to improve the quality of services for prospective pilgrims in the coming hajj season.
“This evaluation is not merely a ritual. We want it to become part of improving hajj services for next year. Please speak openly about any shortcomings during service delivery, not to blame one another, but as material for improvement,” he said in Sorong on Friday.
He said that all input from regional governments, the Regional Office of the Ministry of Hajj, and hajj organising officers would form the basis for drawing up corrective measures so that services for pilgrims become increasingly optimal.
According to Irfan, President Prabowo Subianto established the Ministry of Hajj to ensure that the organisation of the hajj pilgrimage becomes increasingly professional and oriented towards the best service for Indonesian pilgrims.
He also expressed appreciation to all hajj organising officers, including those in West Papua and PBD, who have worked to ensure the success of the 2026 hajj operations.
On that occasion, Irfan acknowledged that the Ministry of Hajj still faces human resource constraints. Nationally, the staffing requirement is estimated at around 7,000 people, whereas the current number of available personnel is only about 3,600.
For this reason, the ministry is opening opportunities for civil servants (ASN) from ministries, agencies, and regional governments to join and strengthen the Ministry of Hajj’s human resources.
“My visit to West Papua and Southwest Papua is not only to give directions to the Ministry of Hajj’s ranks, but also to listen to the regions’ aspirations as material for refining policy and improving the quality of hajj services in the future,” he said.
He expressed appreciation to West Papua and PBD for winning a national award in the field of pilgrim health, as a form of recognition of the regional governments’ efforts to improve the quality of healthcare services for prospective pilgrims.