Govt sets haj tariff, registration date

JAKARTA (JP): The government has set the fee for next year's haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia at Rp 7,551,000 ($3213) a person, with registration opening on Aug. 19.

The fee -- which includes round-trip airfare, lodging, food, transportation and pocket money -- represents a 3.6 percent increase over the Rp 7.29 million fee charged this year.

Muchtar Zarkasji, spokesman for the Ministry of Religious Affairs, told Antara yesterday that the government has kept the increase to a minimum, bearing in mind that the rupiah has depreciated between 8 and 11 percent over the past 12 months.

Registration will begin on Aug. 19 and close on Nov. 30. However, registration will close once the haj pilgrimage quota has been filled, he said.

Indonesia has been allocated a quota of 195,000 pilgrims by Saudi Arabia. Last year, the entire quota was taken up after 18 days, and only 2,000 canceled due to illness or other reasons.

Muchtar said applicants are required to pay the fee in full at the time of registration. Substitutions are not permitted, even if one decides to withdraw, Muchtar said.

The ministry's Director for Haj Affairs, Muhammad Ali, told Antara that applicants can register and pay for the pilgrimage at the nearest branch of the following state banks: BRI, BNI'46, BBD, BDN, Bank Eksim, Bapindo and BTN.

Ali said the government has also set quotas for each of the 27 provinces.

They are: Aceh 3,500, North Sumatra 6,000, West Sumatra 3,800), Riau 3,500, Jambi 2,000, South Sumatra 3,200, Bengkulu 700, Lampung 1,700, Jakarta 21,600, West Java 46,000. Central Java 19,200, Yogyakarta 2,650, East Java 28,600, Bali 300, West Nusa Tenggara 4,500, East Nusa Tenggara 250, West Kalimantan 1,100, Central Kalimantan 1,700, South Kalimantan 7,200, East Kalimantan 4,500, North Sulawesi 450, Central Sulawesi 1,100, South Sulawesi 16,000, Southeast Sulawesi 1,600, Maluku 650, Irian Jaya 700, East Timor 100. The Armed Forces gets an allocation of 1,000, another 7,400 seats are allocated to VIP pilgrims, and 4,000 for officials and escorts. (emb)