Govt mulls limit on haj pilgrimage

JAKARTA: The government is mulling over a limitation on trips to Mecca for the haj pilgrim in a bid to provide an equal opportunity for Indonesian Muslims to perform the pilgrimage.

In a Cabinet meeting on Monday, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla said a regulation would be required to prevent a person from performing a second pilgrimage within five years of the first.

"There should be a restriction so that people do not perform the haj pilgrimage every year because that will reduce the chance of others," Kalla said in the meeting, as quoted by a member of the presidential staff.

As the world's most populous Muslim country, Indonesia sends more than 200,000 people every year on the haj, with a long list of people awaiting their turn.

With the regulation in place, the government expects to reduce the waiting list of aspirant pilgrims.--JP