Special Committee Questions Hajj Departure Schedule Delay

Postponement of Hajj departure (Illustration)

MEMBER of the Special Committee (Pansus) for the Inquiry into the Implementation of the Hajj of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI), Iskan Qolba Lubis, criticized the Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kemenag) regarding the postponement of the departure schedule for hajj pilgrims. Iskan questioned why the pilgrims who should have been expedited were instead delayed.

“The queue for the hajj departure is arranged in a peanut sequence system. This means that when a pilgrim dies or withdraws, the others automatically move up in the queue. So they should be expedited, but why is it slow?” said Iskan in a Hearing of the Hajj Inquiry Committee with the Head of the Sub-Directorate for Regular Hajj Registration and Cancellation, Directorate of Domestic Hajj Services, Ministry of Religious Affairs, Amir Hamzah, at the Parliament Complex, Jakarta, Thursday.

Iskan explained that he received a report about one of the hajj pilgrims who failed to depart in 2019 due to the Covid-19 pandemic which caused a reduction in the hajj quota. After that, the pilgrim was informed that he would depart in 2023, but it turned out that his departure was postponed again for two years.

“There was one hajj pilgrim, during Covid-19 he did not depart because the quota was reduced. After the pandemic ended, he was said to depart in 2023, but suddenly it was postponed again for two years,” said Iskan.

Iskan highlighted that the delay raised suspicions that certain parties were arranging the departure of pilgrims not in accordance with the order.

Also read: Minister of Religion Yaqut: Hajj Pilgrims’ Stay Period Will Be Shortened

“That means there is something like a traffic policeman who regulates who can go forward and who cannot, this is what needs to be explained,” he stressed.

Responding to this, Amir Hamzah from the Ministry of Religious Affairs stated that his party needed to further check the data of the pilgrims mentioned by Iskan. Amir also explained that in 2022, the hajj quota for Indonesia had indeed decreased by 50%.

He emphasized that the departure schedule seen by pilgrims on the Smart Hajj or Pusaka applications is an estimate, while the official allocation is only announced through the official Kemenag website.

“When the congregation stated that they would depart in 2023, where did they look? If it was on the Smart Hajj or Pusaka Application, it was an estimate. The official schedule was only announced on the haji.kemenag.co.id website,” Amir explained. (Ant/Z-10)