Indonesian Ministry of Religion Proposes Hajj Fee for 2022 Rp 45 Million

Jakarta, MINA – Indonesian Ministry of Religion submitted a proposed cost of organizing the Hajj pilgrimage (BPIH) 1443 H/2022.

“The components that are charged directly to the pilgrims are Rp 45,053,368 per pilgrim. The costs for the pilgrimage include flight costs, living costs, some costs in Makkah and Madinah, visa fees and PCR fees in Arabic, Saudi Arabia,” said Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, during the virtual meeting with House Representative on Wednesday.

The consideration of this proposal is balancing the burden of the pilgrims with the continuity of the pilgrimage in the following year. The balance is needed to relieve the congregation with the costs to be paid.

The proposal submitted by the Minister of Religion is known to have increased from previous years. In 2019, the cost of hajj per pilgrim was Rp. 30.8 to Rp. 39.2 million, while in 2020 the proposals submitted ranged from Rp. 31.4 to 38.3 million.

Furthermore, the component charged from indirect financing funds is said to be worth Rp. 8,994,750,278,321.83 or Rp. 8.9 trillion. This is taken from the value of benefits (optimization), Hajj efficiency funds and other legitimate sources.

In his presentation, the Minister of Religion said that the consideration of this figure was carried out by looking at the determination of hajj flights arranged per embarkation, taking into account the distance from each embarkation to Saudi Arabia. Second, there is the principle of rationality, fairness of price and quality of service in the financing of the BPIH and SBM components set by the Minister of Finance (domestic operations).

Furthermore, what is considered is the basis for financing in Saudi Arabia using the Ta’limatul Hajj set by the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Finally, it also looks at efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

“For special hajj, the total proposal or optimization is Rp 9.3 billion. The source of financing is from the value of benefits, initial deposit funds and paid deposit funds,” he said.

Until now, the Minister of Religion also said that the government had not received certainty from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia regarding the implementation of the Hajj pilgrimage in 2022. Meanwhile, the first departure time for Umrah pilgrims based on normal assumptions took place on June 5, 2022.

Under these conditions, he said the government had not been able to get certainty about the hajj quota. So far, the Ministry of Religion has prepared three scenarios, namely full cities, limited quota, or not sending pilgrims at all.

“The pilgrims will depart approximately June 5. This shows that the remaining time for preparation for the Hajj 1443 H/2022 is quite short, only about 3 instead of 15 days, or 3.5 months,” he said. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)