Last batch of haj pilgrims from Indonesia return home

JAKARTA (JP): The last plane bringing home Indonesians from the haj pilgrimage landed at the Halim Perdanakusuma airport yesterday afternoon, smoothly concluding the haj operation whose early stages were marked with glitches.

Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher, Armed Forces Commander Gen. Feisal Tanjung -- who was also amirul haj or leader of this year's haj delegation -- and Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto were among senior officials who welcomed 480 pilgrims as they disembarked from the jet.

Director General of Air Transportation Zainuddin Sikado, Armed Forces chief of General Affairs Lt. Gen. Soeyono and Director General for Islamic and Haj Affairs Ahmad Gozali were also on hand.

The other four disembarkation points -- the Hassanudin airport in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi; Juanda in Surabaya, East Java; Polonia in Medan, North Sumatra; and Sepinggan in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan -- also received the final returning pilgrims yesterday.

A total of 458 flights were arranged to transport 193,000 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia since the operation's first day on March 23. Included among the total number of flights were seven extra flights arranged to carry pilgrims whose departure was delayed due to documentation problems.

The delays and scrambling of flight departures bordered on chaos, resulting in at least one death when a prospective pilgrim, unsure of whether he would finally go, took his own life.

In his speech yesterday, Tarmizi said his office stands to be corrected for problems that occurred during this year's haj operation.

"The government cannot guarantee there will be no more problems in future operations. Only Allah can provide that guarantee," he said. "We can only make efforts to improve the operation every year."

The total number of flights carrying returning pilgrims was only 437 because around 6,900 pilgrims who joined private haj tour operators used regular flights to return home. In addition, a total of another 570 pilgrims died of various health problems, either in the Holy Land or during flights.

Separately, Sikado said that at least 400 tons of Indonesian pilgrims' excess baggage were left behind in Saudi Arabia. "Each pilgrim can only bring up to 30 kilograms of cargo, but many of them tried to bring up to 200 kilograms," Sikado said.

Sikado said that Garuda Indonesia airlines has to spend a great amount of money to transport the pilgrims' belongings home. "That's why I suggested recently that the excess cargo be transported with ships because it would be cheaper," he said.

"Pilgrimage is a religious service, not shopping activities," he reminded the pilgrims. (01)