Indonesia seeks higher haj quota
Indonesia seeks higher haj quota
JAKARTA (JP): The government plans to seek a higher haj quota from Saudi Arabia with the number of Indonesian Moslems applying for this year's holy pilgrimage soaring unexpectedly to nearly 240,000.
Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher told reporters yesterday after meeting with President Soeharto at his Jl. Cendana residence that he plans to visit Saudi Arabia on Feb. 17 and Feb. 18 to convey the request.
Indonesia has been allocated a quota of 192,000 people, which is higher than the 165,000 people who made the pilgrimage last year. The government had earlier expected between 180,000 and 190,000 pilgrims this year.
By the registration's closing date on Jan. 31, the government had received nearly 240,000 applications, the minister said.
This was totally unanticipated, he said, explaining that the government had not expected the size of the pilgrim exodus to reach that level until the last years of this decade.
Tarmizi said up to 200,000 people have already paid the Rp 7.07 million ($3.330) each pilgrim has to spend for the trip to the Moslem holy lands in Saudi Arabia.
The other 40,000 still have until Feb. 15 to pay.
He said those who have not paid in full will temporarily be put on a "waiting list" pending the outcome of his mission to Riyadh later this month.
"President Soeharto asked me to seek for the maximum possible quota allocation," the minister said, noting however that Brunei, Malaysia, Iran, Kuwait and Oman have also exceeded their quotas.
The haj season is not due to begin until May, but given the size of the Indonesian haj group, the operation to transport the pilgrims will begin towards the end of March.
The President viewed the explosion in the number of applicants for the haj pilgrimage this year as reflecting both the rising prosperity of the Indonesian Moslems and also their increasing religious consciousness.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs coordinates the arrangements for the pilgrimage, from transportation, accommodations and food, in a mammoth logistics operation once likened to the U.S.-led international military operation against Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War.
Soeharto asked Tarmizi to coordinate the preparations as well as possible with the other agencies involved, including with the host government Saudi Arabia.
Tarmizi said the government has to provide additional planes and arrange for greater accommodations for the additional pilgrims.
Indonesia exceeded its allocated haj quota for the first time last year, causing chaos amid competition between pilgrims who travel under the government arrangements and some 6,000 Indonesians who made their own arrangements through private travel agencies. (29)