Government promises not to increase haj fee

JAKARTA (JP): The government promised yesterday that haj pilgrims would not be asked to pay a rupiah more than they have already paid for next year's pilgrimage to Mecca, despite the recent plunge in the rupiah's value.

Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto said that PT Garuda Indonesia, the airline entrusted to fly the 200,000 Indonesian pilgrims, would not lose money.

"I think the depreciation has already been taken into consideration (in calculating the fee)," he said.

Garuda Indonesia President Soepandi, who was present at the briefing, nodded in agreement, Antara reported.

Nearly 200,000 Indonesians have paid in full the Rp 8.8 million haj fee set by the government in August.

The holy pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia -- a must for all able- bodied Moslems who can afford it -- will take place in April.

The fee covers return airfares and accommodation and meals for about 40 days in Mecca and Medina, all of which are denominated in American dollars and Saudi real.

When the government set the haj fee in August, the rupiah was still under Rp 3,000 to the dollar. Now the rupiah has fallen to more than Rp 5,000 to the dollar.

In August, the fee paid was equivalent to $2,900. Now, it is only worth $1,760.

Haryanto said Garuda needed to lease 24 planes for the haj operation next year. So far, it has found only 10.

To ensure the pilgrims safety, the government has ruled that Garuda can only lease planes that are less than 15 years old.

Haryanto said he would ask President Soeharto to ease the plane age ruling, perhaps by one or two years.

"Alternatively, Garuda could lease older planes, but use its own newer craft for the haj operation," he said.

Government sources said most of the money paid by pilgrims had been deposited in rupiah accounts.

The rupiah has depreciated, but the funds have accumulated hefty interest earnings to make up for the increased costs.

Separately, Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher warned yesterday local and central government officials involved in next year's haj operation to be extra vigilant as the haj pilgrimage will coincide with the People's Consultative General Assembly in March.

The minister said yesterday, that the pilgrims -- about 60 percent of them have only primary school education -- demand better service from the government. Seventy percent of the pilgrims are housewives.

He said the pilgrims' complaints should be carefully noted to enable the government to give them better service.

"The sending must be well coordinated to prevent any possible problems harming the pilgrims and the government," Tarmizi said after inaugurating four mosques in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

The mosques were funded by the Yayasan Amal Bhakti Moslem Pancasila Foundation which is chaired by President Soeharto.

Tarmizi said the foundation has built more than 870 mosques across the country. Each mosque cost between Rp 200 million (about $37,000) and Rp 250 million.

The foundation collects alms from the public including monthly donations from Armed Forces members and civil servants.

"Managing 200,000 pilgrims is not an easy job because the figure is equal to 20 military divisions or the total population of Brunei," Tarmizi said. (42/prb/emb)