Leading haj tour operator suspended for six months

JAKARTA (JP): PT Tiga Utama Cahaya Makmur, a leading haj pilgrimage tour organizer, has been suspended for six months by the government.

The decision, reported by the Antara news agency, came after Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher openly criticized the tour operator, which arranges trips to Saudi Arabia for Moslems, of involvement in activities that discredited the government.

Tiga Utama is the largest non-government operator. Its clients included the first family in 1991.

With the decision, effective as of July 1, the company will not be able to send pilgrims during the off-season, which is still a lucrative business. It will be allowed to resume operation in time for the next haj pilgrimage proper, which will fall in April of next year.

There are around 40 tour operators licensed by the government to organize the "upscale" version of the haj pilgrimage, offering more perks at higher prices than the government's own program.

The Antara report, quoting the Director General for Islamic and Haj Affairs Amidhan, did not give the precise reason for Tiga Utama's suspension.

Earlier press reports suggested that Tiga Utama had violated the maximum quota of 1,000 pilgrims allocated to each operator by "buying" up the unused quotas from other operators.

The company's director, Andi Abdul Latief, also has been accused of fanning the controversy over the sending of the haj pilgrims in May when he sent a group of journalists for a press conference with the Saudi Arabian ambassador. (emb)