TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan ensured that the Jakarta administration would hold again the mass marriage on 2019 New Year’s Eve.

“Yesterday, a meeting was held, the plan was like that (there will be mass marriage), I will announce the final decision,” Anies said at the Grand Cempaka Hotel, Central Jakarta, Wednesday, December 12.

The head of Jakarta Education, Mental and Spiritual (Dikmental) Bureau Hendra Hidayat explained that every urban village in Jakarta provides a quota of three couples to join this program. The dowry is a set of prayer equipment and Rp500,000 for each couple.

According to Hendra, Jakarta administration cooperated with Bazis Jakarta as the sponsor of the dowry.

“I will hold the final meeting on Friday at 9:00 a.m.,” Hendra said when contacted by journalists.

The Dikmental Bureau has submitted a budget for the mass marriage of Rp566 million at the Jakarta Legislative Council (DPRD) Budget Agency (Banggar) meeting last September.

The budget was proposed to be included in the 2018 Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget Changes (APBD-P) so that Jakarta administration can finance 534 couples this year. However, Deputy Chairperson of the Jakarta DPRD Triwisaksana as the head of the budget agency canceled the budget.

At the end of 2017, the Jakarta administration held the mass marriage at Park and Ride Thamrin. The participants reached 437 couples. They received dowry assistance in the form of 1 gram gold bullion from PT Antam. They also get savings from Bank Syariah Mandiri.

LANI DIANA WIJAYA