House Of Representatives Commission VIII: Delaying Umrah Is Heavy For The Government, Bitter For Congregations

Member of Commission VIII of the House of Representatives MF Nurhuda Yusro/ Photo: Nailin In Saroh

JAKARTA - Member of Commission VIII DPR RI MF Nurhuda Yusro welcomed the postponement of the inaugural Umrah departure which was originally scheduled to depart from December 23, 2021 to early 2022. According to him, the decision was right in the midst of the outbreak of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in several countries. Moreover, in Indonesia, there have been several cases reported by the Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin.

"This decision is certainly hard for the Government, and bitter for prospective pilgrims and related stakeholders. However, this decision certainly did not appear suddenly," said Nurhuda in her statement to VOI, Sunday, December 19. Previously, the member of the PKB faction continued, the government had banned state officials at various levels from visiting abroad. Meanwhile, the public is still giving advice, because the Omicron variant has entered Indonesia. "So the government still allows the Umrah pilgrimage which will depart for the first time on December 23, 2021 after almost two years of no departures," said Nurhuda.

Nurhuda invites the public, especially the 60,000 prospective pilgrims who are ready to depart, to be patient in accepting this decision. This situation, according to him, is for the safety and health of the people in Indonesia as a whole. "Moreover, according to the Ministry of Health, this Omicron variant has a character that transmits faster than the previous variant," explained Nurhuda.

The Central Java legislator admitted that the Ministry of Health had not found any cases of death from the Omicron variant detected in Indonesia. However, said Nurhuda, anticipatory steps are very important to take so that the incident with the Delta variant doesn't happen again. ," he said. The secretary of the Cadreization Institute for the Central Leadership Council of the National Awakening Party (DPP PKB) also invited all elements of society to pray for this pandemic to end soon. "The government must also take anticipatory steps as early as possible to slow down the transmission rate of the Omicron variant. I heard that the government has specially handled patients infected with Omicron so that they don't spread to others," said Nurhuda. As is known, the departure for Umrah will be carried out on December 23, 2021. However, the Ministry of Religion conveyed the decision to postpone it after an appeal from President Joko Widodo so that people do not travel abroad.

This has also been discussed in a meeting of the Ministry of Religion with the Association for Umrah Travel Organizers (PPIU).