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Government, House finally agree to Rp 49 million for 2023 haj program
Two days after originally planned, the two sides have finally come to an agreement on a fee of Rp 49.8 million for this year's haj program, at no extra cost to delayed 2020 pilgrims but Rp 9.4 million more for 2022 pilgrims.
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Pilgrims gather on July 2, 2022 around the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. (AFP/AFP)
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fter a two-day meeting, the House of Representatives and the Religious Affairs Ministry finally agreed on Tuesday to set this year’s haj fee at Rp 49.8 million (US$3,300), higher than the haj fees for 2020 and 2022, the last two years the government-sponsored program was offered.
The 2020 haj program was canceled after the emergence of the COVID-19 global pandemic, while the program was not offered in 2021. Last year, some 100,000 Indonesian pilgrims traveled to Mecca, pursuant to Saudi Arabia’s country-specific quota and COVID-19 policies.
But authorities assured pilgrims from 2020 who had finished paying the full fee of Rp 35 million and were set to make the journey this year that they would not pay 1 rupiah more.
“We have decided that the delayed 2020 pilgrims will not have to pay [extra],” said Marwan Dasopang, deputy chairman of House Commission VIII overseeing religious affairs, as he announced the decision.
Marwan added that participants of the 2022 haj package, whose trips had been postponed until this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, would be required to pay an additional Rp 9.4 million on top of the Rp 39 million determined for that year.
Given the unique situation as a result of the global pandemic, the House and the ministry decided that the new fee would apply only to participants of the 2022 and 2023 haj programs.
Commission VIII and the ministry had originally planned to make a decision on the haj fee at a House hearing on Monday. But the discussion became heated as lawmakers remained unsatisfied over the ministry’s proposed costs for accommodation and meals, and the meeting went past 7 p.m. without reaching a decision.
