Banjarbaru, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) - While waiting for the opening of international flights, including Hajj and Umrah, the Banjarmasin Immigration Office is ready to open services at Syamsudin Noor International Airport Banjarmasin.
"The availability of facilities in the arrival and departure areas shows Immigration readiness," said actingHead of the South Kalimantan Office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights Heni Susila Wardoyo here on Tuesday.
Heni said that he had directly checked the Immigration Checkpoint (TPI) at the airport which has two counters for departures, four counters for arrivals, and 172 seats in the passenger waiting room area along with other supporting facilities.
He asked that readiness to be maintained so that when international departures can be made from Syamsudin Noor Airport, the immigration team is ready, both physically and in human resources.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Immigration Division of South Kalimantan, Teodorus Simarmata, admitted that he will continue to hold audiences regarding the plan to make Syamsudin Noor Airport an embarkation airport for Hajj and Umrah.
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According to him, coordination and synergy are important so that all relevant parties, including the regional government, the Office of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and other stakeholders, can jointly push for the Hajj and Umrah embarkation to be realized immediately.
"The positive value is that it can reduce pilgrims' travel costs to be cheaper and can improve the economy in South Kalimantan in general," he said.
It is known that the high interest in hajj and umrah in South Kalimantan is the second largest in Indonesia and passport applications are starting to increase by 10 percent at this time as COVID-19 cases decline.
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