House commission wants better haj arrangements
House commission wants better haj arrangements
JAKARTA (JP): Commission IX of the House of Representatives has called for better coordination between the national government and provincial and regency governments in organizing future haj pilgrimage operations.
As this year's haj operation reached its halfway mark, members of the commission inspected the Pondok Gede Haj Dormitory in East Jakarta yesterday, where pilgrims spend one night before boarding their flights for Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
After the visit, Commission IX Chairman Ismael Hasan praised the government for doing its utmost to facilitate the departure of the 195,000 pilgrims, the largest number ever sent by Indonesia.
The massive haj operation, which was launched at the beginning of this month, was beset in its first week by delays as many pilgrims who were booked on the first flights did not yet have their visas. The delays caused a huge pile up anxious pilgrims at Pondok Gede.
The government has now managed to ease the congestion and pilgrims are getting their visas on time.
Tuesday was the halfway mark of the haj operation, with 97,291 Indonesian pilgrims having already arrived in Jeddah aboard 226 flights. The government has scheduled 452 flights to transport all 195,000 Indonesian pilgrims.
Another 35,000 Indonesians who registered for this year's haj pilgrimage have been put on the waiting list as Indonesia has been allocated a quota of 195,000 pilgrims this year.
The haj operation is coordinated by the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Most people blamed the ministry for the chaos in the first week of the operation, but criticism of Minister Tarmizi Taher has ebbed since he publicly accepted all the blame last week.
Ismael Hasan yesterday stressed the importance of the full support of regional administrations to the success of the haj operation.
He called for greater efforts to eliminate loopholes in the haj arrangements that have, he said, allowed people to exploit the pilgrimage program for profit.
He said that the objective of the government's haj operation was to cater for the needs of the pilgrims and that it should not cause them suffering.
"For next year's pilgrimage, Commission IX urges the government to give priority to those who are on this year's waiting list," Hasan said.
"The government should also close the registration the moment it reaches the quota," he said.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian consulate in Jeddah reported that four more Indonesian pilgrims died yesterday, bringing the total so far to 17. Three of yesterday's deaths were caused by heart failure and the fourth by lung disease, the consulate reported.
Last year, 638 out of the 165,000 Indonesian pilgrims died in Saudi Arabia. (29)