RI asks for additional 27,000 hajj quota

Jakarta, NU Online
The government of Indonesia has asked Saudi Arabia for an additional 27,000 hajj quota in 2011, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali said here on Tuesday.

But the minister said his office was still waiting for an approval from Saudi Arabian government of the additional hajj quota.

"Our request for the additional hajj quota has yet to be responded by Saudi Arabian government and we are still waiting," the religious affairs minister said after attending Regional Representatives Council and House of Representatives joint session where President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono delivered his state address on the occasion of the 66th anniversary of Indonesian independence.

On the occasion the minister said he was not sure when the Saudi Arabian government would probably respond to the Indonesian request of additional hajj quota.

Asked about the preparation for hajj pilgrimage this year, the religious affairs minister said that to date 160,000 passports had been completed while the visas applications were still underway.

"Visas application is still underway, and the paying off of the hajj pilgrim cost is still being made," Suryadharma was quoted by Antara news agency as saying. (dar)

He expressed hope that early of October the prospective hajj pilgrims would start to leave for the holy land.

Suryadharma said the hajj quota for Indonesia this year was set at 211,000 pilgrims but a long queue for the hajj pilgrimage has happened until several years into the future.

He said increasing demand for hajj pilgrimage for years from Indonesian people has exceeded the number of quota, and therefore Vice President Boediono when performing his minor hajj pilgrimage recently requested the Saudi Arabian government to increase the number of quota. (dar)