MECCA, Aug 8 — Malaysia is among the three countries chosen by the Saudi Arabian government to implement the EYAB pioneer project, which is to facilitate transactions for the return journey of the pilgrims to their respective home country, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
She said the pioneer project for Malaysia would begin with the return flight home for the pilgrims on August 18 and involving about 7,000 pilgrims on board 14 Malaysia Airlines flights.
She said the latest initiative from the Saudi Arabian government, which also involved pilgrims from Indonesia and India, would reduce the waiting period for the return journey of the pilgrims from six hours to four hours.
“All the flights will take off from the King Abdul Aziz International Airport, Jeddah (near here),” she said at a media conference after visiting the Haj pilgrims and observing the operations of the Tabung Haji (TH) office in Mecca at the Abraj Janadriyah, here today.
Also present were Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Fuziah Salleh, Member of Parliament for Port Dickson Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, TH chairman Tan Sri Md Nor Yusof, and the Head of the Malaysian Haj Delegation Datuk Seri Syed Saleh Syed Abdul Rahman.
A total of 33,000 Malaysian Haj pilgrims are expected to perform the fifth pillar of Islam assisted by 640 TH staff.
Dr Wan Azizah said that through the EYAB pioneer project, a special departure lounge would be created at the Southern Terminal, King Abdul Aziz International Airport which would enable immigration transactions for the Haj pilgrims concerned to be handled in a mobile and quick manner.
“The EYAB pioneer project is a continuation of the Mecca Route and its implementation will be extended to all flights carrying the Malaysian Haj pilgrims in future,” she said.
Malaysia, which is the pioneer nation for the Mecca Route in 2017, implemented the system of departure where the Haj pilgrims would have their fingerprints taken while their passports would be stamped in the country where the pilgrims had taken off to shorten the waiting time for the pilgrims.
Meanwhile, she said that for this year TH bore a total subsidy of RM400 million and had borne a total subsidy of more than RM2 billion since the year 2001.
Dr Wan Azizah said this was because since 2009, TH had maintained the Haj payment at RM9,980 although the cost of performing the Haj continued to rise.
“For this Haj season alone, the cost of performing the Haj was RM22,900 and Tabung Haji bore a subsidy of RM12,920 per person. I believe the good relations and close cooperation between Tabung Haji and the Saudi Arabian authorities had considerably facilitated and improved the movement of the Malaysian Haj pilgrims,” she said.
The deputy prime minister said more than 20 new initiatives to boost efficiency in the management of the Haj pilgrims had been implemented by TH successfully.
“These included the interactive application of the Haj Pilgrims and e-Taib where the information technology will be the enabler for the Haj pilgrims, the cleanliness campaign at the level of the pilgrims’ hostel and the Masya’ír, and ready food for consumption during the Masya’ir operations,” she added. — Bernama
