Haj operation protected from rupiah plunge

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher has announced the government exchanged Rp 1.6 trillion into American dollars and Saudi reals in July to cover the expense of sending approximately 203,000 Indonesians on this year's haj pilgrimage.

This means the haj operation has been spared the effects of the plunge in the rupiah, Tarmizi was quoted by Antara as saying yesterday.

Prospective pilgrims would therefore not be required to pay any additional costs before their departure, he said, adding that they would not even be asked to pay the increased departure tax which was raised from Rp 250,000 to Rp 1 million yesterday.

The Rp 1.6 trillion fund amounted to $666 million in July when the exchange rate was Rp 2,400. Today, it would buy just over $160 million.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs, which coordinates the massive operation to send Indonesians on the annual haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, collected the Rp 8.8 million fee from each participant during registration in September.

The fee, paid in full, came to around $3,600 then. Today, it would be worth $880, not even enough to cover the return airfare.

Tarmizi, who was speaking in Pekanbaru, Riau, on Wednesday, said the American dollars and Saudi reals were bought to pay for the lease of the planes, lodging and meals, and medical treatment for Indonesian pilgrims.

"Thanks God, we planned the haj operation well in advance. So, although the rupiah has fallen, would-be pilgrims won't have to pay anything extra," he said.

"When the currency upheaval began, we had already paid for the lodgings and other needs for the pilgrimage," he said, stressing that the government was handling the haj operation to serve the public, not to make a profit.

The operation to send pilgrims to Mecca will begin in the first week of March, and will last for about one month. After Idul Adha (the Moslem Day of Sacrifice) on April 7 the government will bring the pilgrims home in another one-month operation.

From this year the government is including Batam as a seventh departure point for haj pilgrims, along with Jakarta, Medan, Surakarta, Surabaya, Ujungpandang and Balikpapan.

Only one flight will leave from Batam, but if the operation proves successful, the government would add more flights next year for the benefit of pilgrims residing in Riau, he said.

In the past, Riau pilgrims flew from Medan.

Garuda Indonesia, appointed to handle the haj flights, is leasing several wide-bodied planes for the operation.

Tarmizi declined to speculate on the pilgrimage fee for 1999, saying that much will depend on the rupiah's exchange rate. (emb)