Mataram Ministry Of Religion Has Not Issued Umrah Congregation Departure Recommendations

MATARAM - The Office of the Ministry of Religion of the City of Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara Province, has not yet issued a recommendation for a quota for the departure of Umrah pilgrims.

"A total of 99 Umrah pilgrims who departed on January 16 and 19, 2022, from PT Samira's travel are all residents from outside the City of Mataram," said Head of the Mataram City Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) HM Amin in Mataram, as reported by Antara, Thursday, January 27.

PT Samira is one of the travel agents (travel) hajj and umrah in Mataram City but headquartered in Jakarta.

Amin assessed that there were no proposals or departures for Umrah pilgrims from travel in the city of Mataram, maybe they are still waiting for better conditions.

Umrah pilgrims who depart in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic must follow standard health protocols (prokes), undergo quarantine before departing and after arriving in the country, and depart through one door, namely from the Jakarta embarkation.

"With this regulation, the 99 people who departed through PT Samira might be those who have registered for a long time and can afford to pay more," he said.

Because, Amin continued, with the quarantine regulations and the implementation of the COVID-19 health protocol (prokes) in the implementation of the Umrah pilgrimage, the cost of Umrah has now reached Rp. 35 million to Rp. 38 million for a 12-day trip. Usually, Umrah travels for 12 days, the maximum cost is around Rp. 25 million.

"We can see this condition, until now there has not been a single local traveler in Mataram that has submitted a recommendation to send pilgrims even though the government has opened a permit for Umrah departures," he said.

Amin further said that the policy of opening the implementation of Umrah by the government would be a trial and evaluation material for how the congregation departs in the midst of a pandemic that must comply with the COVID-19 health protocol.

"We really hope that in 2022, the implementation of the pilgrimage can be reopened, of course with various applicable regulations. If it can't be 100 percent, then 20-30 percent of the total quota every year," he said.

Amin added, every year Mataram City gets a quota of 730-750 hajj departures. "With the postponement of hajj departures twice, the number of delayed quotas is around 1,500 people," he said.