First batches of pilgrims depart for haj

Tangerang, NU Online
Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali witnessed on Friday the departure of the first batch of Indonesian haj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.<>

The minister met the travelers at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten — one of the 10 points of departure for pilgrims.

“This year, the Saudi government has eliminated the general service fees amounting to US$227 it used to collect from Indonesian pilgrims. We thank the Saudis for this policy which has reduced the pilgrimage cost,” Suryadharma said.

The group of pilgrims at Soekarno-Hatta were not the only haj pilgrims departing to Saudi Arabia on Friday.

The minister said there were other pilgrims departing from other airports, including 350 in Banda Aceh, Medan (455), Padang (374), Palembang (360), Surakarta (1,500), Balikpapan (360), Makassar (750), Lombok (325) and Banjarmasin.

“The pilgrims who will depart from Banjarmasin airport will leave the country on Sept. 25. This means only nine ports of departure or embarkation will send pilgrims today,” he said, adding that all Indonesian pilgrims would stay within a 2.5-kilometer radius of the Al Haram Mosque in Mecca.

Suryadharma said that the government had briefed Indonesian pilgrims on all the things they needed to know and to do during their religious services in Mecca and Madina.

“We, the government have also prepared teams of paramedics to attend to all medical necessities, especially for pilgrims who suffer high-risk diseases such as diabetes, heart conditions and high-blood pressure,” he said as quoted by The Jakarta Post.

Meanwhile, PT Garuda Indonesia president director Emirsyah Satar, who accompanied the minister at the airport’s haj terminal, said that the national flag carrier would fly a total of 112,683 pilgrims in 296 flights to Saudi Arabia this year.

“This year, we will operate a total of 29 planes to transport the pilgrims from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia using 15 Boeing 767-300ER, three 747 and 11 Airbus A330 planes,” he said.

According to Emirsyah, to serve the haj pilgrimage flights this year, Garuda would assign 555 cabin crew, 60 percent of whom were recruited from the respective points of embarkation in order to avoid communication problems with any passengers who spoke mainly regional languages.

For safety reasons, Emirsyah reminded all would-be pilgrims not to bring hazardous items such as stoves, LPG gas canisters, lighters, sharp weapons, scissors, hair spray or perfume along with them and that their luggage should not exceed 32 kilograms in weight.

Editor : Sudarto Murtaufiq