First Pilgrims Leave for Saudi Arabia for Haj

The first batch of flights carrying Indonesian haj pilgrims left for Saudi Arabia on Tuesday (17/7/2018) morning. Some 11 flight groups (\'kloter\') are scheduled to leave for Saudi Arabia from six different embarkation points.

KOMPAS/BAHANA PATRIA GUPTA

The first batch of hajj pilgrims from Situbondo regency attend a preparatory session on Monday (16/7/2018) at the Surabaya hajj departure dormitory in Surabaya, East Java. The Surabaya hajj departure organizing committee welcomed and prepared 445 people from Situbondo before they left for Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Prospective pilgrims of Flight Group (Kloter) I gathered at haj dormitories in their respective hometowns on Sunday. They then departed to Saudi Arabia by plane this Tuesday morning. Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin is scheduled to be at the Surabaya embarkation point in East Java at around 7 a.m.

In a visit to the Pondok Gede Haj Dormitory in Jakarta, the Religious Affairs Ministry’s haj equipment and documents sub-directorate head, Nasrullah Jasam, said that 4,486 prospective haj pilgrims had been housed at haj dormitories nationwide. They were split into 11 flight groups, each of which has between 360 and 455 people.

They will depart to Saudi Arabia from six embarkation points: Surabaya (three flight groups), Padang (one group), Lombok (one group), Solo (four groups), Jakarta-Pondok Gede (one group) and Makassar (one group).

KOMPAS/BAHANA PATRIA GUPTA

The first batch of hajj pilgrims from Situbondo regency listen to instructions from pilgrimage officials upon their arrival on Monday (16/7/2018) at the Surabaya hajj departure dormitory in East Java. The Surabaya hajj departure organizing committee welcomed and prepared 445 people from Situbondo before they left for Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

At the embarkation points, prospective haj pilgrims will undergo a final medical check-up before departing to Saudi Arabia. Their biometric data will also be recorded. They will stay for 24 hours at the embarkation point before their flights to Saudi Arabia. “We will distribute ID bracelets, living cost allowances and passports to the pilgrims,” Nasrullah said.

This year, Indonesia’s haj quota is 221,000 pilgrims, comprising 204,000 regular haj pilgrims and 17,000 special haj pilgrims. Those going on a regular haj will depart to Saudi Arabia in two phases. In the first phase, from July 17 to 29, pilgrims will fly to Amir Muhammad bin Abdul Aziz (AMA) Airport in Medina.

KOMPAS/BAHANA PATRIA GUPTA

A worker at the Surabaya Class I Port Health Office fogs the hajj departure dormitory on Saturday (14/7/2018) in Surabaya, East Java.

In the second phase, between July 30 and Aug. 15, pilgrims will fly to King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah.

Haj dormitories

Reports from several regions said that those in Flight Group I were preparing for their own departures. Some 392 pilgrims of Flight Group I in East Jakarta, for instance, arrived at the Pondok Gede Haj Dormitory on Monday morning, after which they underwent medical check-ups.

Medical check-ups for prospective pilgrims were also carried out in Surabaya’s Sukolilo Haj Dormitory, Boyolali’s Donohudan Haj Dormitory in Central Java, Banjarbaru Haj Dormitory in South Kalimantan and Padang Haj Dormitory in West Sumatra.

KOMPAS/BAHANA PATRIA GUPTA

A worker at the Surabaya Class I Port Health Office fogs the hajj departure dormitory on Saturday (14/7/2018) in Surabaya, East Java.

Preparation in Medina

Separately, Indonesian Haj Management Committee (PPIH) chair Ahmad Dumyati Basori said in Medina, Saudi Arabia, that the PPIH was 100 percent ready to welcome Indonesians to the Middle East. “All of us in our work regions [in Medina, Mecca and the airports] are prepared,” Ahmad said in a press release from the 2018 Haj Media Center on Monday (16/7/2018).

PPIH Airport Health Division chief Edi Supriyatna said that 26 mobile health officers would be deployed at Medina’s AMA Airport, starting on Tuesday (17/7). They would be helped by 10 preventive health officers and 10 health support officers in providing health advice for pilgrims arriving at the airport.

(SYA/JUM/RWN/ZAK/NAR/E21)