Kupastuntas.co, Lampung English - The Ministry of Religion of the Republic of Indonesia announced an additional quota for Indonesian pilgrims through the Directorate General of Hajj and Umrah Organisation.

Filling in the additional haj quota is intended for regular hajj pilgrims whose previous settlement experienced a system failure. Reserve pilgrims who have made payments and regular Hajj pilgrims whose serial number is the next portion after the reserve Hajj pilgrims.

The Head of the Regional Office of the Ministry of Religion of Lampung Province, as Chief of Staff for Hajj Affairs, Puji Raharjo said, for Lampung Province to get an additional 204 people and a list of names of prospective Hajj pilgrims who are entitled to make payments according to the criteria above, which are spread across Regencies/Districts Cities throughout Lampung Province will later be contacted by officers or to get certain information, they can come directly to the local Ministry of Religion's PHU section.

Payment for the repayment of regular Hajj travel expenses will be carried out from 8 June to 12 June 2023, on weekdays with repayment times from 08.00 WIB to 15.00 WIB. Prospective pilgrims who have registered and obtained an additional quota can pay off the costs of the pilgrimage during this period.

"The payment process can be carried out by the prospective pilgrims themselves or by their guardians or proxies. In this case, the prospective pilgrims need to ensure that payments are made in accordance with the technical instructions set by the Ministry of Religion of the Republic of Indonesia," he said.

Puji further said, it is important to comply with the instructions set out in the Decree of the Director General of Hajj and Umrah Organizations Number 253 concerning Technical Instructions for Filling Additional Hajj Quotas and Payment of Regular Hajj Travel Expenses for 1444H/2023M.

"These technical instructions are designed to ensure a smooth and orderly payment process," he said.

Then when later the prepared quota is not fulfilled, based on the Director General of the Ministry of Religion it will be opened to the next stage for the next serial number or delegated to another province. As of today, there has been no report on how many have been paid off on the first day of payment.

"Usually at 4 o'clock there is a recap of how much progress has been made in full, but I invite all those who get the opportunity to go this year, please take advantage of it because this is an extraordinary opportunity that happens once in a lifetime, so it must be made the best use of it," he said.

For the additional quota departure schedule, it is planned to be flown on additional flights from embarkation around June 18, but the schedule is still tentative because a coordination meeting for the formation of departure groups will be held.

"So how can people who are going to go on pilgrimage have sufficient time to prepare in terms of documents such as passports and visas so that payments are completed and also other needs ahead of the departure," said Puji, when confirmed, Thursday, June 8, 2023.

As for the pilgrims who failed to depart or their departure was delayed this year, he said, there were as many as 6 people from a number of districts. The families of each of the prospective pilgrims who failed to leave have confirmed that their departure has been postponed until the next Hajj season.

"Then there are pilgrims who have entered the waiting list and have entered the manifest on the initial batch, but the day before the flight in question there is one person who died but his wife still left," he added.

"There are also two pilgrims whose departure is still delayed at the Hajj dormitory because they are still waiting for a flight or an empty shift from the next flight group. So in general our pilgrims are all ready, both in terms of health and other administration," he concluded. (*)

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