Computerization speeds up haj pilgrimage registration
JAKARTA (JP): The registration for next year's haj pilgrimage has been a success thanks to the use of computers, the Ministry of Religious Affairs said yesterday.
Through computerization, nearly half of the quota of 200,000 Indonesian pilgrims was filled up on the first day of registration on Sept. 1, Directorate General of the Guidance of the Islamic Community and Haj Affairs secretary Bambang Pranowo said.
Although registration does not officially close until Oct. 31, by Wednesday only 2,071 spaces remained available, Bambang said during a press conference on the Integrated Haj Computer System (SISKOHAT).
The Ministry of Religious Affairs has taken over the registration process from flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, the sole airline appointed to fly Indonesian haj pilgrims to Mecca, beginning this year.
The government has spent Rp 4.2 billion (nearly US$1.5 million) on an IBM computer system for the registration process.
Bambang said that SISKOHAT was an on-line service for haj registration between the country's seven state banks, the Ministry of Religious Affairs' 27 provincial offices and the ministry's computer center in Jakarta.
The system connects 3,566 computer stations in 1,415 state bank branches throughout the country.
According to the president director of PT Usaha Sistim Informasi Jaya, Hari Sulistyono, SISKOHAT will not only service haj registration in the future, it will also support all haj pilgrimage activities, including haj document processing, embarkation preparations, operational monitoring in Saudi Arabia and the haj return process to Indonesia.
Bambang concurred saying that SISKOHAT would also be utilized to support other data transactions at the ministry. He added that the computer system would also be used at the regency level in next year's haj registration.
"Computerization in the country's 305 regencies will need Rp 8 billion," he said, adding that the money would be taken from the permanent haj fund.
Speaking on the handling of the current haj registration, director for the Haj Pilgrimage Organization, Taufiq Kamil, admitted that there were still some problems.
Some officials, he said, had violated regulations by passing out applications for the haj pilgrimage travel document prior to the registration date on Sept. 1.
A team from the Ministry of Religious Affairs Inspectorate General will investigate the haj registration irregularities, he said.
Kamil added that some of the confusion and difficulties encountered might also stem from the very fact that officials were not fully accustomed to the new registration procedures.
Next year's haj fee is Rp 8,805,000 (US$3,200).
The fee is inclusive of round-trip airfare to Saudi Arabia, accommodations, food, spending money and Rp 50,000 allowance toward domestic transportation costs from points of arrival in Indonesia to hometowns.
The Director General of the Guidance of the Islamic Community and Haj Affairs Ahmad Gozali said last month that the 16.6 percent increase over last year's Rp 7,551,000 fee was due to the adjustment in the rupiah's exchange rate against the U.S. dollar, improvements in accommodations in Mecca and an increase in the airport tax. (10)