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January 10, 2025 | 09:20 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Ministry of Religious Affairs revealed the reasons for reducing the hajj companion quota by up to 50 percent by the Government of Saudi Arabia. Hilman Latief, Director General of Hajj and Umrah, said this is not because Indonesia's hajj assistance has been inefficient.
According to Hilman, the Government of Saudi Arabia took this step to improve the ratio of assistance to create more effective services and not cause congestion at Hajj locations. "I think the ratio is improving every day. How effective services and digital transformation become part of the whole system," he told Tempo on Thursday, January 9, 2025.
However, the Ministry of Religious Affairs will negotiate with the Government of Saudi Arabia regarding the reduction. Latief said this step aims to ensure that the assistance of pilgrims in the field continues to run optimally.
In 2025, the Saudi Arabian government set a quota of 2,210 hajj officers. This number is reduced compared to the number of hajj officers in 2024, which reached 4,200 people.
Based on Hilman's calculations, if the hajj officers are reduced to 50 percent or only 2,100 people, the assistance ratio will be one officer for 100 pilgrims. Meanwhile, in the normal quota with 4,200 officers, the ratio is that one officer can serve 50 pilgrims, which, according to Hilman, actually makes assistance effective.
"We want to keep the assistance in the field effective," he said.
Previously, Minister of Religion (Menag) Nasaruddin Umar also stated that the government of Saudi Arabia needed to review the reduction in Indonesia's hajj companion quota by 50 percent. The Ministry of Religious Affairs considers that the review needs to be done not to disrupt the smooth running of the series of worship of prospective Indonesian hajj pilgrims while in the Holy Land.
"First, because the waiting list for the Indonesian hajj is 48 years, meaning that the average hajj participant is old, so they need a companion, and I ask this to be reviewed," he said when met after the opening of the 4th National Working Conference (Mukernas) of the Indonesian Ulema Council at Sahid Jaya Building, Jakarta, Tuesday afternoon, December 17, 2024.
Nasaruddin continues to communicate intensively regarding the proportional quota of hajj companions with the Government of Saudi Arabia. He believes that hajj companions actually assist the Government of Saudi Arabia in taking care of all the needs of Indonesian pilgrims while in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, he said, the number should be increased.
"If the assistants are Indonesian, they understand the language, know the illnesses of the people they assist and so on. This is our consideration," he said.
M. RIZKI YUSRIAL | DEVY ERNIS
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