Saudi Gazette report

INDONESIAN Consul General Mohamad Hery Saripudin has advised all candidates aspiring to serve the pilgrims during the upcoming Haj season to straighten their intentions, renew their commitment and devotion, and to uphold the spirit of service.

Saripudin made the call on the occasion of the official opening of the selection test for candidates to the support team of the Organizing Committee of Indonesia Hajj (PPIH) on Sunday at the auditorium of the Indonesian Haj Affairs Office in Jeddah.

“The test aims at selecting candidates who are credible, responsible and devoted to the task," the consul general told 804 participants out of a total of 974 who passed the initial screening.

This year the Haj Affairs Office of the consulate recorded 1,660 applicants, and around 600 of whom will be recruited to be on the support team during the Haj season. Passing the administrative screening, applicants are scrutinized through the written and oral test/interview and field tests from March 25 to 29.

The tests are to determine the extent to which the candidates are capable of taking on the task entrusted to them.

Considering a full-time task with tough challenges on the ground, the consul general asserted that the PPIH support team must have the ability to manage or control emotions. In addition, officers must have good physical stamina amid stinging temperatures and high mobility.

"Imagine under the scorching sun and pressing situations, we are being confronted with mounting requests for help and complaints from our pilgrims. How can we help them while we are physically unfit," Saripudin said.

He told the candidates to hold on to the Indonesian identity, which is demonstrated in how politely they speak to, behave with and serve the pilgrims.

Director of Haj Affairs at Directorate General of the Indonesian Hajj and Umrah Affairs Sri Ilham Lubis revealed in her speech on the occasion that the index of service satisfaction to Indonesian pilgrims in 2017 reached 84.85. This service quality index is based on the survey done independently by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) since 2010 with a trend that continues to improve year after year.

"This year is more challenging: how we can improve the service that almost reached 85, which is a very satisfactory level," said Lubis.

Haj Consul Ahmad Dumyathi Bashori, concurrently chairman of Indonesian Hajj Organizing Committee in Saudi Arabia, said his team added a new feature to the Android-based smartphone application called bravoPPHI.

While the previous app allowed all Haj officials to detect and monitor the whereabouts of every single personnel and instruct them to address a particular issue on the ground, the new feature enables pilgrims to contact directly an officer within their nearest range or convey to their grievances," Bashori explained

Lubis said, according to this year's Haj plan, in departure phase one Indonesian pilgrims will be dispatched to Madinah simultaneously from all embarkation points across the country starting from July 17 until July 29. In phase two, which will begin on July 30, the pilgrims will land in Jeddah.