Had Been Frozen, Kemenag Again Gives Travel Permits Umrah Linear Lintas Semesta

Umrah illustration (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) has again granted permission for the Umrah travel permit of PT Garisurut Lintas Semesta. After freezing travel permits for a number of Umrah Travel Organizers (PPIU) including PT Garisurus, the Ministry of Religion has now corrected it due to data errors.

"The Umrah travel of PT Garisurus has been confirmed to have an operational permit. Temporary freezing information by the Ministry of Religion is due to missed data," said the owner of the Lintas Semesta Umrah Travel Umrah, Katrin Swasono, in his statement, Monday, October 14.

Previously, the Ministry of Religion temporarily suspended the operational permit of 345 PPIU because it was deemed not to have carried out certification that had been required by the government since the enactment of the Decree of the Minister of Religion Number 1251 of 2021.

Katrin said the Umrah Cross-South Line travel had been certified by an authorized agency affiliated with the Ministry of Religion and the National Accreditation Committee (KAN) with an accreditation value A since May 6, 2024.

"We reported the certification on June 27 complete with supporting documents," he explained.

Therefore, Katrin admitted that he was surprised when he received a notification that his Umrah travel was included in the Ministry of Religion's frozen list of 345 PPIUs last week. His party then clarified to the Ministry of Religion.

"We have visited the central Ministry of Religion's office and expressed our disappointment over the administrative error in unilaterally freezing the linear PPIU permit," said Katrin.

"Alhamdulillah, the Ministry of Religion has apologized and immediately made a rectal letter for the error," he continued.

On October 9, the Ministry of Religion issued a letter from the Directorate General of Hajj and Umrah (Ditjen PHU) numbered B-09013/DJ/DT.II.IV.I/Hj.09/10/2024 regarding the re-opening of operational permits for 33 Umrah travelers. One of the PPIUs whose operational permit is re-opened is the smooth Umrah travel.

Katrin hopes that problems like this will not happen again in the future. He appealed to the Ministry of Religion to ask for clarification first before freezing the PPIU operational permit unilaterally.

"We hope that in the future something like this will happen again. Because we are not the only ones who are harmed, but also our congregation," said Katrin.

Katrin also conveyed PT Garisurut Lintas Semesta's commitment to provide Umrah travel services properly, and according to the mechanism.

"Our Umrah travel has an official permit from the competent authority. And our commitment is to ensure the congregation's journey to the Holy Land as well as possible until returning to the country in a safe and comfortable condition," he said.

Regarding this issue, the DPP of the Muslim Association of Hajj and Umrah Organizers of the Republic of Indonesia (Amphuri) regrets the slow steps taken by the Ministry of Religion to update (update) the certification data for Umrah Travel Organizers (PPIU).

Meanwhile, in reality, several special Umrah and Hajj travel services mentioned in the permit freezing decree have met the certification requirements as required by the Decree of the Minister of Religion Number 1251 of 2021. This is like the case with the Umrah Cross-South Line travel.

"Why doesn't the Ministry of Religion update or check first before freezing PPIU? It should be possible to confirm it first to the PPIU by email or telephone to the director, or simpler through association," said Head of Umrah DPP Amphuri, Ahmad Barakwan.

Meanwhile, the General Chairperson of Amphuri, Firman M. Nur urged the Ministry of Religion to immediately correct data related to PPIU certification. Because in the notification letter regarding the suspension of the PPIU's temporary operational permit which was spread to the public, there were many data errors that caused business Umrah travel losses.

"When the decree came out, apparently there was still missing data, because there were many objections that they had completed even long before the decree came out," said Firman.

Firman said that Amphuri, which oversees a total of 675 PPIU and PIHK (Special Hajj Organizers) has also submitted objections and clarification of data to the Ministry of Religion since the suspension of operational permits for hundreds of Umrah travel was circulated in the community.

"The hope is that in the future we can jointly monitor whether the company has not fulfilled its obligations, both certification and accreditation. Or, both are given time to remind," he said.