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Government to better prepare pilgrims for Mecca
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Hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims pray outside Namira Mosque in Arafat during the annual haj pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Sept. 11, 2016. (AP/Nariman El-Mofty)
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irector General of Haj and Umrah Management Abdul Jamil told Commission VIII of the House of Representatives on Thursday that the government has taken ongoing efforts to improve pilgrimage services, including haj preparation courses and a guarantee of better accommodation, among others.
He informed the legislators that the government’s priority was to properly inform pilgrims about the haj process in Mecca and other important religious sites in Saudi Arabia before they departed on the pilgrimage. He explained that this preparatory program was expected to mitigate some of the problems encountered with the pilgrimage thus far due to a lack of information.
“Most of the pilgrims are poorly educated, so it is imperative that they be prepared to carry out the pilgrimage rituals and other activities properly. Hopefully, this training will help them understand the haj procedures better,” Jamil told members of Commission VIII.
Indonesia’s haj quota for 2017 is approximately 204,000 pilgrims.
Jamil said the government also planned to improve the accommodation facilities, especially in Arafah, where pilgrims were housed in tents. One of the main steps to be taken was the provision of a better air conditioning system for the tents.
(Read also: Saudi Arabia allocates Indonesia haj quota of 221,000 per year )
He also said the government was encouraging the use of its “Smart Haj” cellphone application launched in 2015, which has several features, including a collection of prayers and route information. The “Smart Haj” app can be downloaded on to phones with the Android operational system from the Google Play Store. (rdi/yan)
