Iskan Qolba Lubis, deputy chairman of Commission VIII on religious affairs of the House of Representatives (DPR), said his commission will continue to monitor the handling of visas for would-be hajj pilgrims.
He stated that he was hopeful that the Religious Affairs Ministry would be able to handle the visa issue without any problems.
Commission VIII has approved the verification funds for the religious affairs ministry to conduct verification of hajj visa at the district level in the regions right up to the central government, Qolba noted in a press release on Tuesday.
He suggested that the Indonesian government and its Saudi counterpart should have better coordination.
In 2015, Indonesia had a quota of 168,800 hajj pilgrims while earlier, the quota was 210,000. The Indonesian quota was reduced due to the ongoing expansion project at the Haram Mosque in Mecca.
"There is need to improve communication with the Saudi government. Last years chaos should not happen again. Various phases while issuing visas should also be monitored properly because the authority to issue the visa lies with the Saudi government," he said.
He said good communication and coordination with the Saudi government would smoothen the process of visa issuance.
"After all, the Saudi government has also provided online service facility for the handling of visas," he said.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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