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Indonesian haj pilgrims begin to depart for Saudi Arabia

Suwarni, a haj pilgrim from Surakarta, Central Java, said she was not concerned about the Ebola virus, MERS virus or even the expected extreme heat of Saudi Arabia

Kusumasari Ayuningtyas and Panca Nugraha (The Jakarta Post)
Boyolali, Central Java/Mataram
Tue, September 2, 2014

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Indonesian haj pilgrims begin to depart for Saudi Arabia

S

uwarni, a haj pilgrim from Surakarta, Central Java, said she was not concerned about the Ebola virus, MERS virus or even the expected extreme heat of Saudi Arabia.

She said she was determined to perform the haj pilgrimage this year, so she would neither burden her mind with worries nor cancel her journey.

'€œMaking the haj has been my ambition. I'€™ve resigned my fate to God and hopefully God will bless me, so everything runs smoothly,'€ said the middle-aged woman.

Suwarni is one of the 1,125 haj pilgrims from Surakarta who joined the first group leaving for Mecca on Monday. The pilgrims left on three flights.

Around 170,000 Indonesians are set to fly to Saudi Arabia for the annual haj pilgrimage in the coming weeks, but few are aware of the potential threat of the Ebola virus, following the deaths of at least 1,500 people in western Africa over the past six months.

Meanwhile, Surakarta Health Office head Siti Wahyuningsih advised the pilgrims to be careful when interacting with other pilgrims during the haj, especially with pilgrims from Ebola-suspect countries.

According to Siti, it is advisable not to have direct human contact keeping in mind the absence of an anti-Ebola vaccination.

'€œPilgrims have been administered with meningitis shots, provided with masks and vitamins. We hope a healthy body can minimize the spread of the Ebola virus,'€ said Siti.

Surakarta Haj Management Committee (PPIH) registration and departure division officer Nasrul Hidayat said seven pilgrims failed to depart on the first of three flights. Of the 375 listed haj pilgrims, only 368 left for Mecca.

Three of them fell sick and were referred to the Moewardi Hospital in Surakarta, three others were the companions of the sick pilgrims, while the other was a medical worker who had to undergo visa rearrangements.

'€œConsequently, we had to assign a medical worker from the 22nd kloter [batch] to replace the worker from the first kloter who failed to depart today,'€ said Nasrul.

Nasrul said some pilgrims arrived two hours early as they had a smooth journey despite the damaged Comal Bridge in Pemalang.

In his send-off speech, Central Java Deputy Governor Heru Sudjatmoko reminded pilgrims to stay fit during the pilgrimage.

'€œI hope pilgrims can keep in shape so they can complete the haj pilgrimage and become hajis with integrity,'€ said Heru.

In Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), at least 320 haj pilgrims departed on Monday from the haj embarkation point at Lombok International Airport in Central Lombok on Monday. The embarkation ceremony was led by NTB Governor Muhammad Zainul Majdi at the Haj Dormitory in Mataram.

Muhammad also recommended the pilgrims take care of their health during the pilgrimage and to not exert themselves during their visit in the holy land.

Based on data derived from the NTB Religious Office, NTB this year will send off 3,596 pilgrims who will be divided into 11 batches, each batch is assisted by five officers from the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

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