Pilgrims Of Aceh Hajj Candidates Queue Up To 31 Years, DPRA Members Urge Saudi Arabian Lobbying Government

Member of the Aceh House of Representatives (DPRA) Teuku Raja Keumangan. (BETWEEN)

ACEH - Member of the Aceh House of Representatives (DPRA), Teuku Raja Keumangan, urged the Aceh Government and other relevant agencies to immediately lobby the King of Saudi Arabia.

The goal is to increase the quota for prospective Hajj pilgrims (JCH) from Aceh who are currently lining up to leave for the next 31 years.

"This is a serious problem that the Aceh government must immediately address, so that JCH from Aceh does not wait too long to be able to perform the pilgrimage to the holy land," said Teuku Raja Keumangan when contacted by Antara, Sunday, January 9.

According to him, until the beginning of 2022, the total number of JCHs from Aceh who have registered and received the haj portion from the government through the Ministry of Religion has reached 129,119 people.

With so many JCH queues, he said, it is certain that the period will be 31 years from now.

Teuku Raja Keumangan also said that the total number of pilgrims from Aceh who had departed so far every year reached 4,359 people, coming from 23 regencies/cities in Aceh.

For this reason, he hopes that the Aceh Government together with the DPRA must immediately discuss the issue, so that the Acehnese who want to go to worship in the holy land no longer have to wait long.

"We are ready with the Government of Aceh to lobby the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, so that Aceh gets the priority of adding JCH. Especially so far, Aceh's relations with Saudi Arabia are very close," said Teuku Raja Keumangan, adding.

Although there are many prospective pilgrims on the waiting list, the interest of the Muslim community in Aceh, including in West Aceh, to register as prospective pilgrims on the regular route is still very high every year.

The Ministry of Religion in Aceh noted that every year from 2017 to 2021, there were 2,706 residents in West Aceh who had registered as prospective pilgrims.