Govt. cuts haj fee, extends registration

JAKARTA (JP): The government, in line with the strengthening rupiah against the U.S. dollar, has slashed the cost of joining next year's haj pilgrimage to Mecca from Rp 27.37 million to Rp 21.85 million (US$2,731), Antara reported on Monday.

The government has also extended to Dec. 16 the registration date, originally scheduled to close on Oct. 31, in order to allow more people to take part in the pilgrimage now that the cost has been cut.

Director General for Islam and Haj Affairs Mubarok told reporters that the government would also refund the Rp 5.52 million difference in cost to the 42,547 people who have already registered and paid the higher fee.

"They will receive the refund intact, not a single cent less," Mubarok was quoted as saying by Antara.

He said the provincial offices of the Ministry of Religious Affairs would be making the refund payments to the registered participants in their respective areas.

These refunds would be made as soon as possible, certainly before their departure in March, he added.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs coordinates the massive operation to send Indonesians on the haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, an obligation that all Moslems who have the physical and financial means must satisfy once in their life.

However, with the plunge of the rupiah, the cost of next year's pilgrimage had become prohibitively high for most Indonesians. For this year's pilgrimage in March, for which Indonesians paid Rp 8.8 million, the entire 200,000 spaces allocated to Indonesia by the Saudi government were taken up.

Mubarok did not specify the rupiah exchange rate used to calculate the cost of the haj pilgrimage, whose cost, including round-trip airfare, lodging and food, is calculated in dollars.

The government had earlier said that the rupiah equivalent of the pilgrimage cost came to $2,737, with the cost being calculated on the basis of Rp 10,000 to the dollar. On Monday the rupiah was trading below Rp 8,000 on the dollar.

Mubarok said that the government would incur the additional rupiah cost should the currency drop again, but would be prepared to give an even larger refund if the rupiah continued to strengthen. (emb)