Ujungpandang batch first to leave for haj

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Information Mohammad Yunus officiated Thursday night at the departure of the first group of pilgrims to Saudi Arabia from Hasanuddin airport in Ujungpandang, Antara reported Friday.

Accompanied by South Sulawesi Governor HZB Palaguna, Yunus called on the pilgrims to show solidarity during their pilgrimage and pray for the recovery of their country.

The first group from Ujungpandang consists of 344 people.

Pilgrims were set to depart from Ujungpandang in 62 groups, followed by 43 groups from Jakarta and 32 groups from Surabaya.

The governor said South Sulawesi residents should be grateful for being able to make up the largest proportion of the government's quota. Out of a quota of 16,500 for the province, there were 16,319 pilgrims.

He noted most pilgrims were from lucky farming families. While the plunge in the value of the rupiah has brought misfortune to many, cash crop farmers including coffee farmers in the province have seen a rise in income.

Earlier on Wednesday night Yunus saw off the first group of pilgrims from Adisumarmo airport in Surakarta, Central Java, accompanied by Central Java Governor Mardiyanto.

The pilgrims there, mostly from the regencies of Banyumas, Cilacap and Wonogiri, boarded a new rented Boeing 767.

"This is a new plane, only four weeks out of the factory," Director General of Air Transportation Soenaryo Yosopratomo said.

A total of 71,078 haj pilgrims were scheduled to fly out in 180 groups from six airports: Adisumarno in Surakarta, Central Java; Soekarno-Hatta in Jakarta; Juanda in Surabaya, East Java; Hasanuddin in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi; Polonia in Medan, North Sumatra, and Sepinggan in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

The figures indicate a sharp drop from last year's 201,961 pilgrims in 456 groups. The pilgrimage is compulsory for financially and physically able Muslims.

Minister of Religious Affairs Malik Fadjar and Yunus will see off the first group from Jakarta at 9 p.m. on Saturday.

The groups are slated to return from April 2 through April 27. (edt/har)