The Government Has Prepared A 2022 Hajj Implementation Scheme

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) has prepared a scheme for the 2022 hajj pilgrimage, although there has been no decision from the Saudi Arabian Government regarding the departure of the pilgrimage for pilgrims from Indonesia amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We have started, and in fact we already have a base in 2020 and 2021. In principle, we make preparations as usual as if there was hajj, the quota is 100 percent, and we have prepared everything," said the Head of the Hajj Document Sub-Directorate of the Directorate General of Hajj and Umrah. Indonesian Ministry of Defense Nasrullah Jasam in Banda Aceh, reported by Antara, Monday, November 15.

This was conveyed by Nasrullah at the 2021 Umrah and Hajj (Jamarah) issue in Banda Aceh. His party together with the Regional Office of the Ministry of Religion of Aceh Province discussed Hajj and Umrah with the theme, "Opportunities, Challenges and Problems of Organizing Hajj and Umrah during the COVID-19 Period".

In fact, continued Nasrullah, the Indonesian Ministry of Religion has also prepared identity bracelets for Indonesian pilgrims, which were made in 2020, but the identity bracelets have not yet been written on the year of departure for the pilgrimage considering the schedule has not yet been determined.

"The identity bracelets that we made in 2020 are still there, and we haven't written the year yet, waiting for a decision from the Saudi Arabian government, including other preparations," said Nasrullah.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Aceh Ministry of Religion's Regional Office Iqbal said the pandemic had caused the cancellation of hajj departures in the last two years. Even so, the government continues to make various preparations and draw up a scheme for the implementation of the hajj for the following year.

"It's been two years we have not been able to send pilgrims, if this condition continues, the queue will increase," he said.

Along with the issuance of regulations regarding the cancellation of hajj departures during the 2021 Hajj pilgrimage, he said, the Aceh Regional Office of the Ministry of Religion also continued to disseminate information so that the public received valid information regarding the cancellation of hajj departures.

"This is also to answer hoax information circulating on social media. Therefore, let's pray to Allah that the pandemic will be over and the pilgrimage can be carried out next year," he said. Until now, the Regional Office of the Ministry of Religion in Aceh recorded that there were 128 thousand Acehnese who were in the queue for prospective pilgrims, with an estimated departure time of 30 years.

Meanwhile, there are 4,187 people scheduled to depart for the Hajj pilgrimage in 2022 from the Aceh Embarkation. They have become a priority because they failed to leave twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.