Pilgrims protest levy

BANYUMAS, Central Java: As many as 720 people who have just returned from a haj pilgrimage lodged a protest Wednesday against the regent and the head of the Prosecutors' Office over a levy of Rp 200,000 that each had to pay before leaving for Mecca.

One of the complainants, Sidik Fauzan, said he had sent a letter to Banyumas Regent Djoko Sudantoko asking where the extra Rp 200,000 had gone to.

He said that the imposition of the additional Rp 200,000 was a burden to prospective pilgrims, but said they had no choice but to pay the additional fund. "Or we might have failed to go to the Holy Land," Sidik said.

He said that each prospective pilgrim had paid an additional Rp 200,000, meaning that the regency committee had collected at least Rp 144 million.

The official pilgrimage cost this year is Rp 7,551,000 per person.

An official from the Ministry of Religious Affairs office said that an agreement had been reached between the pilgrims and the committee on the additional cost before the pilgrims flew to Mecca. (wah/sur)