TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Religious Affairs Ministry has welcomed the Saudi Arabia government’s announcement that it will still hold the hajj pilgrimage this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The ministry’s Acting Director-General of Hajj and Umrah, Khoirizi, said all pilgrims in the world including Indonesians had been waiting for the news certainty.

“We are grateful for the Saudi announcement that there will be a hajj pilgrimage. But Saudi has not yet announced its operational plans,” said Khoirizi in a written statement on Monday, May 10, 2021.

The operational plans, he added, would be announced later. “We will immediately make coordination related to the operational plans,” he said.

According to him, the Saudi announcement on this year’s hajj pilgrimage was highly vital as it would explain the scheme of the pilgrimage. Last year, the hajj pilgrimage was only allowed for Saudi citizens and foreign nationals living in the country.

The Religious Affairs Ministry will coordinate with the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia and the Indonesian Consulate General in Jeddah while waiting for the next official announcement.

“We have also conducted a series of discussions with the House Commission VIII regarding the hajj cost (BPIH). We nearly come to the final agreement,” Khorizi said.

Khoirizi also said that Indonesian would-be pilgrims had started participating in the vaccination program carried out by the Health Ministry as required by the Saudi Arabia government for the 2021 hajj pilgrimage.

Read: Ministry Calls on Public Not to Fall for Hoaxes about Hajj

EGI ADYATAMA