'Centers for pilgrims must obey rules'

JAKARTA: An official with the religious affairs ministry has warned course centers for haj pilgrims to follow existing rules otherwise their permits will be revoked.

Taufiq Kamil, head of Islamic education and pilgrimage at the ministry, revealed on Sunday there were about 1,000 course centers for haj pilgrims and that some of them had violated regulations.

Commenting on some course centers that force haj pilgrims to pay more money than stipulated, Taufiq said principally the course centers were not allowed to force the pilgrims to pay extra.

He disclosed that there was an agreement between the pilgrims and the course centers. If the deal was made without coercion, it was acceptable.

He acknowledged the annual ritual attracted businessmen because the income received from a group haj pilgrimage was around Rp 5 trillion. - Antara