Donohudan Hajj Dormitory In Boyolali Ready To Welcome Hajj Candidates

Hajj Donohudan Dormitory in Boyolali Regency, Central Java Province. (ANTARA/Aris Wasita)

SEMARANG - Management of the Donohudan Hajj Dormitory in Boyolali Regency is preparing to welcome pilgrims from Central Java and the Special Region of Yogyakarta who are scheduled to leave for the Holy Land in 2022.

"We have prepared ourselves even though the time is very short for preparation. However, now we have reached around 85 percent of preparations for welcoming the calhaj arrivals at the Donohudan dormitory on June 3," said Head of the Donohudan Hajj Dormitory Management Unit Bambang Sumanto in Boyolali, Monday.

After two years of not being used to serve pilgrims because the COVID-19 pandemic forced the government to temporarily stop the departure of pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, this year's Hajj Donohudan Dormitory will again be used to serve pilgrims.

According to Bambang, this year as many as 15,477 hajj candidates from Central Java and the Special Region of Yogyakarta which are divided into 43 flying groups (kloters) will use the Donohudan Hajj Dormitory service.

He ensured that the Donohudan Hajj Dormitory was ready for use before the Hajj candidates in the first flying group were scheduled to enter the dormitory on June 3, 2022.

"The candidates for the first batch of hajj pilgrims plan to come to the Donohudan Hajj hostel on June 3 at 08.00 WIB and they will depart for the Holy Land via Adi Soemarmo Airport in Boyolali to the Holy Land on June 4," he said.

He explained that the manager of the Donohudan Hajj Dormitory has prepared the Mecca Building which consists of three floors as a stopover for prospective Hajj pilgrims before leaving for Saudi Arabia.

"The Mecca building has three floors and each floor has 380 beds," he said.

"The first floor of the Medina building is still used for the COVID-19 Emergency Hospital (RSDC). However, the second and third floors can be used as a backup," he added. The manager of the Haji Donohudan Dormitory has sprayed disinfectant in all rooms that will be used by pilgrims and Hajj officers. The hostel manager will also try to ensure that the hajj pilgrims implement health protocols while in the hostel.

In 2019, 34,940 people from Central Java and the Special Region of Yogyakarta were sent to the Holy Land to perform the pilgrimage. They were dispatched in 97 groups via the Surakarta Embarkation.

There are fewer pilgrims departing through the Surakarta Embarkation in 2022 than in 2019 because the quota for hajj received by the Indonesian government from the Saudi Arabian government is also less.

After temporarily halting the departure of pilgrims to the Holy Land in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indonesian government in 2022 received a quota of sending 100,051 people for Hajj or about half of the 2019 hajj quota.