FOR the sake of a few hundred travel agencies, the Malaysian Cabinet is putting the well-being of 34 million Malaysians at stake by allowing umrah (mini hajj) trips to resume on Feb 8 after having postponed it for a month on Jan 8 following the Omicron COVID-19 variant outbreak.
Surely, the recent revelation by Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri that the Government had no intention to extend the postponement with a more effective standard operating procedures (SOPs) being put in place is nothing more than thorns to the ears.
This is not to deny the rights of faithful Muslims from pursuing their pilgrimage nor to rob the travel agencies a business opportunity but to prevent yet another potentially devastating outbreak whereby umrah pilgrims accounted for 157 of the 245 Omicron cases reported as of Jan 6.
To make matters worse, it was later found out that 14% of umrah pilgrims who returned to the country with the Omicron variant did not have any vaccination record.
While there has been no update of the latest tally to date, Utusan Malaysia reported on Jan 19 that a group of Malaysian umrah pilgrims were “stranded” in Saudi Arabia to undergo quarantine observation after having contracted the Omicron variant in the holy land.
As revealed by Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, the authorities are concerned that non-compliance with home quarantine procedures among returning pilgrims had caused the spread of the new variant among family members.
“Most pilgrims who returned from performing the umrah applied to undergo their seven-day quarantine at home. However, when there was non-compliance with the stipulated SOPs, positive COVID-19 cases among umrah pilgrims caused the infection to spread among family members,” he told a media conference on Jan 1.
“Due to non-compliance with the home quarantine procedures, family members living in the same house or neighbours and relatives who come visiting are exposed to COVID-19 infection.”
As usual when issues got out of hand, the people responsible to make umrah trips a reality feigned ignorance or are only keen to wipe their hands clean.
For example, the Selangor Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies (SAFTTA) president Dr Fathir Badri Alhadad expressed shock at Khairy’s revelation on the unvaccinated pilgrims, as reported by New Straits Times on Jan 7.
“We hope the Health Ministry can provide more information on this matter and impose stern action on them. The Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (MOTAC) should work with the Health Ministry to identify those who are not vaccinated.
“SAFTTA urges MOTAC to take stern and thorough action to prevent it from happening again,” he said.
However, Fathir said SAFTTA would not support the postponement of umrah.
“Tightening the present SOP when the umrah pilgrims arrive is more practical than postponing the trip because the payments have already been made for those with approved visas.
“For January, it is estimated that 10,000 people already got their visas and have paid RM3,500 for the hotel and transportation in Saudi Arabia beforehand. We hope the Government will take this matter seriously because it involves RM35 mil in losses for the pilgrims.”
If money is all that matters here, perhaps for the sake of all Malaysians, Tabung Haji can step in with a compensation payment mechanism for potential pilgrims instead of subjecting them to travel with enormous risk of lightning striking twice.
Remember that even the best of SOPs can be easily be breached with a lack of discipline or out of ignorance. – Jan 28, 2022
