ID :
38361
Wed, 12/31/2008 - 22:10
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/38361
The shortlink copeid
RI HAJJ PILGRIMS OFTEN EXTORTED BY DRIVERS, PORTERS IN S ARABIA
Medina, Dec 31 (ANTARA)- Indonesian hajj pilgrims often became victims of extortion by drivers and porters during their travel from Mecca to Medina in Saudi Arabia, one of the pilgrims reported.
"Pilgrims in my group were often asked to pay 5 riyal per person by drivers taking them (from Mecca) to Medina," KH Hasbullah Fadholi, the leader of the 74th hajj flight group that embarked from Surabaya, said here on Wednesday.
Hasbullah, who is also chairman of the `Al-Mabrur pilgrimage guidance group of Pamekasan, Madura, East Java, said he once admonished drivers not to extort money from the 267 pilgrims under his supervision.
"I told them not to ask pilgrims for additional money because they had already been paid for their services," said Hasbullah who had made the hajj pilgrimage six times.
He said he had paid each driver about 50 riyals for the trip to Medina. Without the tips, the drivers would purposely reduce their speed so that the pilgrims would arrive in Medina later than scheduled.
But even after having received the 50-riyal tips, the drivers still asked for more money from the pilgrims. "Once I tried to scare the drivers by telling them I could report their behavior to the Muassasah (official hajj transporation agency formed by the Saudi government) which had already paid the drivers," he said.
"Upon arrival in Medina, porters also tried to extort money from pilgrims in my group by cutting off the electricity of the hotel lifts. Then the porters asked for 10 riyals for each bag they would carry to the pilgrims' rooms," he said.
But Hasbullah who had sensed the blackmailing attempt then asked the pilgrims in his group to deposit their big bags on the first floor of the hotel and wait until the hotel lifts functioned again.
"I also told them (porters) that we would report them to the Muassasah if they continued to force pilgrims to pay extra tips," he said.
The attitude of the local bus drivers and porters was actually the result of the practice of tipping by many Indonesians in the past. They (drivers and porters) had eventually come to regard requesting exra tips as something normal, Hasbullah said.
"Pilgrims in my group were often asked to pay 5 riyal per person by drivers taking them (from Mecca) to Medina," KH Hasbullah Fadholi, the leader of the 74th hajj flight group that embarked from Surabaya, said here on Wednesday.
Hasbullah, who is also chairman of the `Al-Mabrur pilgrimage guidance group of Pamekasan, Madura, East Java, said he once admonished drivers not to extort money from the 267 pilgrims under his supervision.
"I told them not to ask pilgrims for additional money because they had already been paid for their services," said Hasbullah who had made the hajj pilgrimage six times.
He said he had paid each driver about 50 riyals for the trip to Medina. Without the tips, the drivers would purposely reduce their speed so that the pilgrims would arrive in Medina later than scheduled.
But even after having received the 50-riyal tips, the drivers still asked for more money from the pilgrims. "Once I tried to scare the drivers by telling them I could report their behavior to the Muassasah (official hajj transporation agency formed by the Saudi government) which had already paid the drivers," he said.
"Upon arrival in Medina, porters also tried to extort money from pilgrims in my group by cutting off the electricity of the hotel lifts. Then the porters asked for 10 riyals for each bag they would carry to the pilgrims' rooms," he said.
But Hasbullah who had sensed the blackmailing attempt then asked the pilgrims in his group to deposit their big bags on the first floor of the hotel and wait until the hotel lifts functioned again.
"I also told them (porters) that we would report them to the Muassasah if they continued to force pilgrims to pay extra tips," he said.
The attitude of the local bus drivers and porters was actually the result of the practice of tipping by many Indonesians in the past. They (drivers and porters) had eventually come to regard requesting exra tips as something normal, Hasbullah said.
