Explanation Of The Minister Of Religion Regarding The Delay Of Hajj Aviation Airlines

PIXABAY ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas conveyed the reason for the delay in the Hajj airline when attending online at the ministerial level meeting to evaluate the implementation of the 1444 Hijri pilgrimage.

"One of the delays is that there are parts (spare parts) of the aircraft that must be imported from Lithuania, which takes time, this is if the version of the Garuda airline, while the global supply chain is disrupted due to the war between Russia and Ukraine, that is one of the factors," said the Minister of Religion as reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, June 6.

In addition, Minister of Religion Yaqut also conveyed the reason for the delay from Saudia Airlines, namely aircraft that are not ready and are not in accordance with the contract.

"For example, one plane should have accommodated 485 worshipers, but only 405 pilgrims, so there are 80 worshipers who have to wait, but in this contract there are sanctions when there is a delay in material terms, the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) will immediately hold a re-talk with Garuda and Saudia Airlines," he said.

Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy emphasized that the delay in this airline will affect the schedule and shift other pilgrims, including accommodation.

"Changes in the configuration or capacity of the aircraft that have been changed, causing there will be pilgrims who are left behind and forced to join the next batch, this will certainly change accommodation as well, for that it needs to be considered properly," said Muhadjir.

Muhadjir also stated that as an evaluation material, cooperation between the Indonesian government and Saudi Arabia (Government to Government) will be further improved in all sectors, especially the housing sector (residential), health, and transportation sectors, especially air transportation.

In addition to transportation, Minister of Religion Yaqut also conveyed several services for Hajj pilgrims that had been prepared during the Hajj period, especially to the elderly.

"We have 66,943 worshipers, and we have prepared personnel for daily needs such as wheelchairs, walking aid sticks, Manasik affairs (training on the pilgrimage) or rukhsah (drought during Hajj for certain people), in general we are ready both in Medina and Makkah," said the Minister of Religion.

In addition, the Ministry of Religion will also follow up on elevator problems at hotels in Medina, where pilgrims have to wait for the long queue.

"Based on the monitoring of the Coordinating Minister while in Medina, the elevator tends to be small, and the congregation who uses the long queue can reach 30-120 minutes, so later we will try to arrange and coordinate with the Saudi side, how to prevent the elevator from waiting in line," he said.

For this reason, the Minister of Religion also appealed to pilgrims who were still young and physically qualified to use emergency stairs to avoid queues.