Pilgrims demand better services
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher said yesterday that most of the 200,000 Indonesian haj pilgrims going to Saudi Arabia this year were poor people in need of better government service and protection.
"Three quarters of the pilgrims are not rich. They are poor, common people like farmers, whom the government should serve well," Tarmizi told reporters after meeting President Soeharto yesterday.
The government has trained almost 3,000 people to act as guides for the pilgrims, and 500 doctors and 1,000 paramedics, including 75 medical specialists, to be posted to the health clinics in Mecca, Medina and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
"President Soeharto has instructed us that we have to provide prompt services so the pilgrims feel safe and protected," Tarmizi said.
He was accompanied by Minister of Health Sujudi and Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto, whose ministries and personnel are also involved in the haj operation.
Tarmizi said that all agencies involved in this year's haj operation had been cooperating well thus far, ensuring that procedures such as the issuance of immigration documents, had gone well. All the pilgrims have already received their passports and visas, according to Tarmizi.
Last year's operation was marked by chaos due to, among other things, visas being issued late.
The first of 474 batches of pilgrims will leave for Saudi Arabia on March 15, while the last group departs on April 10. The massive operation to bring home the pilgrims is to begin on April 22 and end on May 18, according to Haryanto.
The pilgrims will embark from six airports. They are Halim Perdanakusumah airport in Jakarta; Juanda in Surabaya, East Java; Hasanuddin in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi; Polonia in Medan, North Sumatra; Sepinggan in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan; and the newly inaugurated Adisumarmo airport in Surakarta, Central Java.
The country's flag carrier, Garuda Indonesia, is to deploy 24 jets to transport the pilgrims. They are 11 Boeing B-747s, two B- 767s, four MD-11s and seven DC-10s.
Nineteen of the jets are leased from foreign airlines. The foreign companies include Cors Air, Air Canada, Singapore Airlines, Air Liberty, Challenge Air, Britannia, OAM France, World Airways, Kuwait Airways and Tower Air of the United States.
This year Garuda plans to transport 63 groups of pilgrims from Adisumarmo airport, 36 groups from Polonia airport, 189 groups from Halim Perdanakusumah, 86 groups from Juanda, 61 groups from Hasanuddin, and 39 groups from Sepinggan.
"We have asked (President Soeharto's) permission to deploy aircraft made before 1980. The President had previously instructed us to use only newer aircraft ... but because (newer aircraft) are difficult to get, there will be a 1979-made aircraft and one made in 1978, but they will only be used as backup," Haryanto said.
"The President has given his permission but stressed that only reliable aircraft must be deployed," he added.
Tarmizi said that 55 percent of the pilgrims are female. He reiterated that they should not proceed with the pilgrimage if they are pregnant.
The Saudi Arabian government has ordered that all haj pilgrims be vaccinated against meningitis, an infection of the brain's membrane. "Pregnant women are not allowed to receive this vaccination," Sujudi said. (swe)