Daker Makkah Values Hajj 2022 Is More Ideal: Transportation No Obstacles

Illustration of the Hajj in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Between)

JAKARTA - The Head of the Makkah Working Area (Daker) Mukhammad Khanif said that the implementation of the Hajj 1443 H/2022 AD was ideal and comfortable for pilgrims from Indonesia.

"Actually, at this time, it is very ideal for pilgrims in terms of housing, then there is no problem with transportation," said Khanif in Makkah, quoted from Antara, Friday, August 5.

According to him, this year's Hajj did not have any significant occurrences in the service, and everything went smoothly.

He explained, in terms of the accommodation where the congregation lived, a good hotel could be chosen. Likewise with transportation, there is no density like when the hajj quota is normal.

"Well, we don't experience this when 100 percent of the congregation is. Because 100 percent is how congested the road is, how crowded it is when leaving the Grand Mosque and this doesn't take time," he said.

Likewise with consumption, especially before the peak of the pilgrimage in Arafah, Muzdalifah and Mina (Armuzna).

"D-3, for example, we estimate that the congregation will not get catering due to traffic density, but yesterday there were no problems," he said.

Catering ran smoothly in all the hotels occupied by Indonesian pilgrims in the city of Makkah and according to him, it rarely happened because usually on D-3 Armuzna the traffic was already heavy, including to the Grand Mosque.

"But yesterday everything was running, catering was also running and there were no problems, meaning that even at peak times, transportation was stopped, but catering was still running smoothly," he said.

In organizing this year's Hajj, the Government of Saudi Arabia has limited the total quota of pilgrims to only one million pilgrims because it is still in a pandemic situation.

Indonesia itself gets a quota of 100,051 congregations, or the most compared to other countries. However, the quota is only 46 percent of the normal quota.

As a result, the atmosphere of the city of Mecca is quieter than the previous pilgrimage.