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House to evaluate this year's haj management
The House of Representatives is planning to evaluate haj management this year following recurring problems that afflicted Indonesian pilgrims in Saudi Arabia, including poor accommodation and food poisoning.
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Indonesian pilgrims arrive at Al-Wahdah Tower Al Mutamayiz Hotel in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on May 20, 2024. More than 56,000 Indonesian pilgrims had arrived in the Middle Eastern country as of May 20 to go on a month-long pilgrimage. (Antara/ Sigid Kurniawan)
T
he House of Representatives is planning to evaluate the nation’s haj management this year following recurring problems that have afflicted Indonesian pilgrims in Saudi Arabia, including poor accommodation and incidents of food poisoning.
House Commission VIII overseeing religious and social affairs said a task force would be formed immediately after this year’s pilgrimage season ends to review how the Religious Affairs Ministry organizes the haj and coordinates with third parties in Saudi and how the funds of pilgrims are handled by the Haj Fund Management Agency (BKPH).
The plan came after a series of problems were uncovered by a team of lawmakers who inspected the organization of the haj in Saudi Arabia, with the most complaints it received being the temporary tents to accommodate Indonesian pilgrims in Mina and Arafah. These tents were either double-booked, overcrowded, lacked comfortable beds or had broken air conditioning.
An example was found in a camp located in Mina, where a number of Indonesian pilgrims were forced to leave their tents due to being double-booked.
“There were reports that [pilgrims from] Trenggalek in East Java and Cirebon in West Java were abruptly kicked out of their reserved tents because the tents were actually already reserved for other pilgrims,” said team member Ina Ammania of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) on Monday.
A camp for Indonesian pilgrims in Arafah was also reported to be overcrowded, with an initial capacity of only around 360 people but ending up housing 400 pilgrims.
Read also: Government warns Indonesian pilgrims to stick to Saudi haj rules
