Only 13 seats left for haj trip

JAKARTA: Although the next haj pilgrimage is nine months away, there are only 13 regular seats remaining for the holy trip.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs announced on Friday the seats would be available to pilgrims from Bengkulu province only, while the quota for the other 31 provinces had already been filled.

Of 205,000 seats available to Indonesia for the coming haj pilgrimage in January next year, 185,800 will be sold at the lower price of Rp 20 million (US$2,325), 16,000 are allocated for those who can afford to pay more in exchange for extra facilities. The remaining 3,200 seats are intended for haj officials.

East Java received the largest quota of 34,000 pilgrims. -- Antara