TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Puan Maharani said the parliament understood the reason for the government's decision to cancel this year's hajj pilgrimage. However, she asked the government to provide refund services for prospective pilgrims.

“The government must still serve prospective pilgrims. Make sure that the service is good and the mechanism is clear if they ask for their funds to be returned,” said Puan in a written statement on Friday, June 4.

She opined that the cancellation of the hajj pilgrimage due to safety and the Covid-19 concerns are understandable. Besides, the Saudi Arabia government has not yet announced the hajj quota for Indonesia while the hajj mitigation team of the Religious Affairs Ministry has missed the deadline for the pilgrimage preparation.

Puan Maharani further hoped the Indonesian government could exercise effective communication with the Saudi to increase the quota for Indonesian pilgrims once the pilgrimage runs normally.

The Hajj Fund Management Agency (BPKH) Head Anggito Abimanyu asserted that the pilgrims’ funds are safe. “All funds that we manage are safe and now placed in sharia banks,” said Anggito on Thursday, June 3.

He explained that the BPKH will manage the hajj funds based on the Religious Affairs Ministerial Regulation (KMA) No. 660 of 2021 on the cancellation of hajj pilgrimage in 2021 or 1142 Hijri.

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DEWI NURITA