1997 haj quota of 195,000 filled, government closes registration

JAKARTA (JP): The government closed registration of next year's haj pilgrimage to Mecca for Moslems on Sept. 19 after the quota of 195,000 people was filled, an official said yesterday.

Suyono Yahya, assistant to the Coordination Minister for People's Welfare, said all registration counters across the country ceased operation on Sept. 19.

This year's charge for the haj was raised by 3.6 percent to Rp 7,551,000 ($3,213).

Suyono made the remarks after a coordination meeting at the Ministry of Social Services yesterday. The meeting was attended by Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro, Minister of Health Sujudi, Minister of Social Services Inten Suweno and Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Azwar Anas.

Indonesia has been allocated a quota of 195,000 by the Saudi government, one in every 1,000, for the 1997 pilgrimage season. Quotas were introduced to control the flow of haj pilgrims.

"The government wants to make sure next year's haj operation proceeds smoothly," Suyono said.

He said that the government will form two teams in charge of organizing the month-long journey to Mecca, including taking care of the pilgrims' passports and their visas.

Next year, pilgrims are scheduled to depart between March 15 to April 10. "That's only 27 days, two less than this year," Suyono said.

The government is preparing six haj embarkation points: Halim Perdanakusumah airport in Jakarta, Polonia airport in Medan (North Sumatra), Juanda airport in Surabaya (East Java), Hasanuddin airport in Ujungpandang (South Sulawesi), Adisumarmo in Solo (Central Java) and Sepinggan in Balikpapan (South Kalimantan).

"The government will lay on extra flights to guarantee all the haj pilgrims depart and return on schedule, " Suyono said.

This year, 194,000 Indonesians went on the haj.

Problems with documentation and visas have thrown off many flight schedules in the past. Some of those who were supposed to leave early failed to go, while pilgrims on later flights with valid visas were forced to go on short notice. Some flights were just canceled.

In 1995, similar problems forced the government to lay on 20 extra flights for the 6,000 pilgrims whose departures were delayed.

There were 1,067 seats left vacant during the 1994 haj season which saw 192,000 departures. (ste)