The Parliament and the Minister of Religious Affairs decided to reduce hajj pilgrimage cost (BPIH) by USD80 from USD3,422 in 2009 to USD3,342 averagely in 2010 consisting of average cost of air transport from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia at USD1,720, public service fee paid to the Saudi Arabian Kingdom of USD277, cost of accommodation in Madina at Riyal 600, and allowance fee at USD405.
Actually, the amount of the hajj pilgrimage cost is different for each embarkation. The lowest fee is applicable for Aceh embarkation at USD3,147, and the highest is for Makassar embarkation at USD3,505. In a meeting between Commission VIII of Parliament and the Minister of Religious Affairs, the IDR exchange rate was decided at IDR9,300 per 1 USD and IDR2,500 per 1 Riyal. Therefore, each hajj pilgrim was imposed with a fee of IDR31.08 millions.
Minister of Religious Affairs, Suryadharma Ali, stated that the reduction of hajj pilgrimage cost would not affect pilgrimage services. Pilgrimage services in Indonesia as well as in Saudi Arabia would constantly be improved. Improvement of services was implemented by increasing the number of accommodations that have a 2,000 meter distance from Masjidil Haram in Mecca.
The Ministry of religious Affairs would also reduce the amount of cost which was previously imposed on the hajj pilgrims. All the pilgrims would be given subsidies at Riyal 471 and USD15.10. The subsidies were taken from Dana Optimalisasi or sharing of profit from Setoran Haji (payments of pilgrimage cost), which was predicted to reach Rp. 1,172 trillions this year. The subsidies were used to cover shortages of cost of accommodation. The cost of accommodation in Mecca was Riyal 3,100 – 3,400, while the hajj pilgrims were requested to pay only at Riyal 2,850. And, the subsidies were also used to pay for cost of hotel transit in Jeddah, cost of house rent and consumption in Jeddah, in airports, and in Armina, and stevedoring cost. Formerly, these costs were imposed on the hajj pilgrims.
No comments:
Post a Comment