Pilgrims demand better services
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)