A haj pilgrim (right) lifts his head to the sky to pray while another does 'sujud syukur' (kneeling with one's face to the ground) after their plane lands safely at the Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport in Makassar, South Sulawesi on June 23, 2024. - The Jakarta Post
JAKARTA: The House of Representatives has established a committee to launch an inquiry in the government’s management and organisation for this year’s haj, amid reports of poor services received by pilgrims and alleged misuse of the pilgrimage quota.
The exercise of the House’s legislative rights to open the inquiry as well as the formation of the team were agreed on by all nine political party factions during a plenary session on Tuesday (July 9).
Thirty lawmakers from all House parties were named as members of the inquiry team, whose work term spans until the end of their tenure in September, said deputy speaker Muhaimin Iskandar. “The team will also work during the upcoming recess period,” the National Awakening Party (PKB) politician said on Tuesday, as quoted by kompas.com.
Lawmakers are slated to enter the recess period on Friday (July 12) until Aug. 15.
Muhaimin added that the team would “have enough time to come up with evaluations that can help make our haj management better” before the end of the sitting lawmakers’ term.
This year’s haj was “the culmination of lawmakers’ disappointment” over the government’s disorganisation and mismanagement of the pilgrimage in the past three years, said team member Achmad Baidowi of the United Development Party (PPP).
“Not only have we heard reports about poor accommodation for pilgrims, we also found an alleged violation of the law through an improper allocation of the haj quota,” Achmad said, calling the findings “embarrassing”.
For 2024, the Saudi Arabian government allocated an extra quota of 20,000 for Indonesia, with the country getting 241,000 spots for pilgrims, the largest number in the country’s history.
Several lawmakers previously argued that the government had violated provisions in the 2019 law on haj and umrah (minor pilgrimage), which requires the government to designate 92 per cent of the overall haj quota for pilgrims on the regular program, with the remaining given to pilgrims on a special track.
However, for the 2024 haj, the ministry decided to divide the extra quota equally for pilgrims in the regular and special program.
The Indonesian government offers three different programs for pilgrims: regular, special and exclusive.
Most of the pilgrims are participants on the regular pilgrimage, which charges the lowest price, ranging between Rp 40 million (US$2,469) and Rp 50 million in 2022.
This class, however, comes with longer waiting times of up to 30 years.
Pilgrims can wait for a shorter time if they opt for the special track. The wait time for such a service ranges between five to nine years with better facilities for a minimum price tag of Rp 90 million (US$5573).
Muslims picking the exclusive service do not need to wait to depart for the pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia and get access to luxury facilities, but this cost at least Rp 119 million (US$7368) for each pilgrim.
Poor services The House inquiry team will also probe reports of poor accommodation during the pilgrimage, particularly in Arafah and Mina where pilgrims had to stay overnight during the peak of the haj procession.
Lawmakers flagged complaints that many temporary tents to accommodate Indonesian pilgrims in both cities were double-booked, overcrowded and lacked comfortable beds and air conditioning. Pilgrims could not rest properly amid Saudi Arabia’s extreme summer heat, with temperatures reaching up to 51 degrees Celsius.
The Saudi authorities recorded that more than 1,300 pilgrims died during haj, with hundreds of deaths caused by heat-related illnesses.
As of Wednesday, 405 Indonesian pilgrims had passed away in Saudi Arabia.
Other complaints received by the lawmakers include the limited number of toilets and bathrooms, which put elderly pilgrims at an inconvenience during the journey.
According to the Religious Affairs Ministry, some 213,000 Indonesians made the pilgrimage this year, with more than half of them being older than 55 years old.
Food issues are also a major concern for the inquiry team, as nearly 100 pilgrims suffered from food poisoning after allegedly eating expired food.
This year’s pilgrimage was also marred by reports of delayed flights from flag carrier Garuda Indonesia carrying pilgrims to and from Saudi Arabia for various reasons, including mechanical faults.
Responding to the House’s inquiry over the haj management, Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas said he was ready to report this year’s haj management and evaluations to the committee.
“We’ll follow the process as mandated by the Constitution. We’re ready to report all the haj management processes as transparently as possible,” Yaqut said in a statement on Tuesday.
He went on by claiming that this year’s haj organisation had been an improvement on last year, while acknowledging some issues marred the pilgrimage. “We’re only humans after all,” the minister said, “but we will continue to make improvements.” – The Jakarta Post/ANN
