UMRAH and hajj travel agencies have said the government’s move to suspend pilgrimages from January 8 will mean pilgrims will pay a huge financial penalty.

Agencies proposed the government, especially the Ministry of Health (MOH), lift the suspension and give them at least a month’s notice before making similar decisions.

“It is so the travel agencies can work to ensure pilgrims do not lose a lot of money,” they said today.

Earlier today, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced that umrah pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia will be temporarily suspended from January 8 due to the spread of the Omicron variant.

However, he said pilgrims leaving during the first week of January will be allowed to make their journey and that they will be required to quarantine when they return to Malaysia.

This sudden suspension, the travel agencies said, would mean pilgrims have to swallow huge cancellation costs as the agencies would have made flight and accommodation payments, estimating the bill to be around RM210 million.

They added that most of the components of the umrah packages were borne by pilgrims.

“The base price of the umrah introduced by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture is RM6,900 per person and 80% of the cost will be borne by the pilgrims,” the agencies said in a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

The agencies were represented by the honorary secretary-general of the Malaysian Bumiputera Travel Agency (Bumitra) Ab Rahman Mohd Ali, president of the Umrah and Hajj Travel Agency Association (Papuh) Razali Mohd Sham, and the Umrah and Hajj vice-president of the Malaysian Association of Travel and Tourism Agents (Matta) Mohd Azri Abd Razak.

During the press conference, the travel agencies also called for the screening process and SOP to be tightened, especially during departure from KLIA, departure from Saudi Arabia, and arrival back at KLIA.

They also suggested the MOH add a PCR testing centre at KLIA, besides increasing the number of staff on duty.

“This would speed up the screening process and prevent the congregation from gathering in large numbers in one area,” they said.

They also requested that the government provide financial compensation to pilgrims for decisions like this. – January 1, 2022.