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Jakarta gets additional haj quota
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Hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims pray outside Namira Mosque in Arafat near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, during the annual haj in Sept. 11, 2016. (AP/Nariman El-Mofty)
The haj quota for Jakarta citizens has been expanded to 7,891 in 2017, an increase of 2,263 from last year.
Jakarta city secretary Saefullah said that last year the haj quota for the city was 5,628.
In order to accommodate the increase, the administration has expanded the budget and prepared more officials.
“This year, there will be an increase of haj officials from 50 to 61,” Saefullah said on Wednesday as quoted by beritajakarta.com.
The funds for the budget increase would be classified as unexpected expenditures because of the urgency of the matter, he added.
“The haj schedule could not be changed,” Saefullah said.
The head of Jakarta’s mental and spiritual education bureau, Hendra Hidayat, said that there would be an increase of Rp 1.5 billion over the previous budget of Rp 3.5 billion.
“The increase of the haj quota has boosted the number of groups from 18 to 21,” he said.
Jakarta’s haj quota was cut in 2013 because of the renovation of the Masjidil Haram grand mosque in Saudi Arabia.
“This year, the quota has returned to the normal figure of 7,084 per year, with an additional quota of 807,” said Hendra.
