West Papua Hajj Ministry Proposes Staff Increase to Optimise Services

The West Papua Regional Office of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah (Kanwil Kemenhaj) has proposed an increase in human resources to the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah to optimise hajj and religious services in West Papua and Southwest Papua provinces. Head of the West Papua Kemenhaj Regional Office, Aziz Hegemur, stated in Sorong on Friday that the office currently has 86 employees, comprising civil servants, government employees with work agreements, and outsourced support staff. “We request that the Minister provide an affirmative policy in the form of additional human resource allocation, both civil servants and government employees with work agreements, to optimise the quality of religious services and hajj management in the West Papua and Southwest Papua regions,” he said during an evaluation meeting for the departure and return of pilgrims for the 1447 Hijri/2026 AD season in Sorong. According to him, this number is still not ideal compared to the working area covering two provinces, necessitating additional personnel to support public services. Based on Minister of Hajj and Umrah Regulation Number 2 of 2025, the West Papua Kemenhaj Regional Office is domiciled in Manokwari, the capital of West Papua Province. “However, the main service infrastructure, the Transit Hajj Dormitory, is located in Sorong City, Southwest Papua Province,” he noted. Operationally, the office also oversees eight ministry offices at the regency and city levels across both provinces. Aziz said this situation creates a high service burden, so in addition to more staff, his office also expects central government support to strengthen hajj service infrastructure. He requested the Minister’s support to continue the construction of the Sorong Transit Hajj Dormitory up to four floors to increase pilgrim capacity, provide more representative worship guidance facilities, and improve comfort for prospective pilgrims before their departure to the Makassar Embarkation. Furthermore, the office proposed the establishment of a working unit in Teluk Wondama Regency. Aziz noted that although the area already has an Integrated Hajj and Umrah Service Centre building, it does not yet have working unit status, despite being classified as a disadvantaged, frontier, and outermost region. “We hope the proposal to establish a working unit in Teluk Wondama Regency will receive attention so that services to the community in that area can be more optimal,” he said.