President Not Satisfied, Queue for Hajj 26 Years Asked to Be Cut Again

BOGOR - Efforts to reduce the haj queue are beginning to show results. However, for President Prabowo Subianto, the waiting period of up to 26 years is still too long.

This was revealed in a meeting between the President and the leadership of the DPR, the DPR Hajj Supervisory Team, Commission VIII of the DPR, and the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah at the Garuda Yaksa Paddepokan, Hambalang, Bogor, Wednesday (17/6).

The Deputy Speaker of the DPR and Chairman of the DPR Hajj Supervisory Team, Cucun Ahmad Syamsurijal, said the President paid special attention to the length of the queue for Indonesian Hajj pilgrims.

According to Cucun, the queue, which previously reached 35 to 40 years, has now been pushed down to around 26 years. Even in some areas such as South Sulawesi, the waiting period, which had approached 50 years, has also begun to decrease.

However, this achievement has not made the President satisfied.

"He said that if he could please be faster, like what the scheme is if this queue is not long," said Cucun.

Minister of Hajj and Umrah Mochamad Irfan Yusuf or Gus Irfan said the government together with the DPR is still looking for a formula to shorten the waiting period.

According to Gus Irfan, although the maximum limit of the queue is currently around 26 years, the average pilgrims who departed this year have actually been waiting for around 13 to 14 years.

"We and the friends of the DPR still have to think hard to be able to realize it," said Gus Irfan.

The issue of the queue is one of the biggest homework in the organization of the Indonesian Hajj considering the number of applicants continues to increase every year while the quota from Saudi Arabia is limited.

In the meeting which lasted more than two hours, the President also asked for various new breakthroughs so that the Hajj service would be better and the public's access to the Holy Land could be faster.