TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has raised Indonesia’s hajj quota to 221,000. “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has increased the quota by 52,200,” President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo told a press conference yesterday.
Jokowi said that the figure comprise of normal hajj quota of 211,000 and an additional 10,000. Since 2013, only 168,000 people could leave for hajj since the Saudi monarch had been renovating the al-Haram Mosque compound.
Indonesia had been lobbying for additional hajj quota since 2015 when President Jokowi visited Saudi Arabia on September the same year. The lobby continued as Jokowi and Saudi Arabia monarch’s representatives met in Guangzhou, China, in September last year.
As such, Jokowi expects preparation ahead of hajj pilgrim this year can be made as soon as possible. “I hope it goes well,” he said. The Indonesian government is also anticipating Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdul Aziz al Saud visit to the country in March.
ISTMAN MUSAHARUN