JABAR EKSPRES –Head of the Mecca Working Area (Daker), Khalilurrahman, appealed to prospective pilgrims to use official wheelchair and scooter rental services at the Grand Mosque.
“Pilgrims who will perform sa’i and tawaf should use the official wheelchair rental service provided by the Grand Mosque officers. They wear uniform vests and operate in the Grand Mosque area,” Khalilurrahman said in Mecca on Sunday (6/4).
The appeal followed an incident in which four elderly pilgrims using wheelchairs were stopped by the guards of the Grand Mosque because the service was illegal.
The guards of the Grand Mosque came to four elderly pilgrims from the Jakarta Pondok Gede embarkation, while the four wheelchair pushers whose identities were unknown immediately ran away leaving the congregation on the tawaf track.
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The four pilgrims were allowed to continue tawaaf using the official wheelchair service provided by the Grand Mosque after hajj officers from the protection of pilgrims discussed with the Grand Mosque guards.
Khalilurahman said pilgrims experiencing confusion can ask the hajj officers who have been distributed at many points in the Grand Mosque.
More than 18,500 Indonesian hajj pilgrims have arrived in Mecca and will then perform the obligatory umrah or arrival umrah at the Grand Mosque.
Some of the pilgrims need wheelchairs while performing Umrah.
Based on data on wheelchair rental services as of May 31, 2023 at the Grand Mosque, wheelchair rental rates for tawaf and sa’i packages cost 200 riyals or around IDR 800 thousand per person, while for tawaf or sa’i packages only cost 100 riyals or IDR 400 thousand per person.
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