Anticipating The Incident Of Telantar Hajj Pilgrims, The Government Needs To Have A Strategy In An Emergency Situation

The atmosphere around the Namibia Mosque, where the Wukuf sermon was delivered. (Twitter/@HaramainInfo)

JAKARTA - The DPR highlighted the abandoned events of Indonesian pilgrims in Muzdalifah, after performing the wifuf pilgrimage in Arafah. The government must have a strategy to anticipate an emergency situation during the implementation of the hajj.

Previously, it was reported that thousands of Indonesian pilgrims were abandoned and stuck in Muzdalifah from early morning until late afternoon waiting for the bus to pick them up to Mina. They sat on the side of the road in the sun. Even though at that time the temperature reached 42 degrees Celsius without any supplies of food and drink.

"The incident in Muzdalifah is indeed out of control. We hope that in the future we will improve the management of the congregation's pick-up shuttle, including for food. How do we anticipate that in unavoidable difficult conditions, the congregation will remain comfortable and safe," said DPR Speaker Puan Maharani, Friday, June 30.

Puan hopes that the Government will swiftly find a way out in the event of an emergency situation so that it can minimize the worst possibility. One of them is the traffic density that often occurs during the Hajj season, as well as the condition of the congregation's supplies that run low after wusuf in Arafah.

The traffic flow from Mecca to Mina is known to be in a dense condition, causing the Hajj pilgrims' buses to stall and arrive late at the congregation's pick-up location.

"Events like this can be a learning material so that in the future it will be better. In addition to anticipation, it is also necessary to be alert from the officers," said Puan.

Puan also highlighted the quota of 30 percent of the elderly from the total pilgrims who performed the pilgrimage this year. According to Puan, elderly pilgrims must get more attention because they tend to have difficulties when completing a series of pilgrimages.

"The DPR realizes that the Hajj quota has increased, increasing the workload of the Government and Hajj officers, so there must be more mature preparations. Moreover, this time there are many elderly pilgrims. Apart from officers, special treatment needs to be paid more attention," he said.

Based on data from the Integrated Hajj Information and Computerization System (Siskohat) of the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) as of March 23, there were almost 70 thousand elderly pilgrims departing in 2023. At the end, Indonesia also received an additional quota of pilgrims so that this year there were 229,000 pilgrims who performed the pilgrimage. The number is more than 2 times than the previous year which was only 100,000 worshipers.

Learning from this year's experience, Puan asked the Government to prepare additional accommodation and facilities for elderly pilgrims and people with disabilities. One of them is to add a friendly transportation fleet for the group.

"In the field, currently many Hajj assistants are carrying elderly pilgrims and people with disabilities due to lack of transportation that is friendly to them. This is also an important point for the evaluation of the Government, because not all of our congregations are in good health," said Puan.

Currently, there are only 25 elderly and disabled friendly buses for Indonesian pilgrims. This number is not enough to accommodate the congregation. Moreover, the weather is hot in Saudi Arabia and the high level of fatigue when performing the series of Hajj services is a separate obstacle.

Based on information, there are 2,000 pilgrims who experience stress due to extreme weather or heat stress. The air temperature in Saudi was reported to have reached 48 degrees Celsius. This issue must be anticipated in such a way because it will definitely have an impact on the pilgrimage of the congregation, especially for the elderly and congregation whose physical condition and health are problematic.

Not only that, various obstacles such as toilets, guidelines and health facilities for Indonesian pilgrims were also found, especially in Mina. Puan said, there must be a breakthrough in the management of Hajj from the government regarding these facilities.

There are pilgrims who are forced to sleep outside the tent because they are full of people, including the elderly. This is our lesson together on how to provide the best service for the congregation," he said.

Apart from being less than in terms of facilities, many of the tents provided for Indonesian pilgrims were taken by pilgrims who crowded the Mina area. Then the toilets for women are also deemed inadequate so that pilgrims are forced to wait in line to go to the toilet for up to an hour.

There are also many health facilities that are not widely complained by pilgrims, especially the elderly. The lack of personal assistants for the elderly pilgrims where actually many people need the attention of the DPR.

"These things sometimes escape our attention, but are crucial for the pilgrims. We hope this will be a record for the manager of Hajj organizers, who next year must be able to find solutions for the convenience and security of the congregation," explained Puan.

Puan hopes that the Government can pay attention to the quality of assistance from Hajj officers, especially for the elderly.

"There must be an evaluation in the Hajj companion department, because it is a factor for elderly pilgrims who must get full assistance," said Bung Karno's grandson.

"Don't let abandoned pilgrims because of the lack of number of hajj companions that have an impact on services," concluded Puan.