“Thirty-four provinces. If you ask which place in the provinces, we have asked the governors to determine the locations,” Head of the Presidential Secretariat Heru Budi Hartono said in Jakarta on Friday.
The government has set July 10, 2022, (Sunday) as the date for Eid al-Adha this year, following deliberations by the Religious Affairs Ministry.
For the Islamic festival, each province will get a cow weighing 800 kilograms (kg) to one ton from President Widodo, the official said.
"Each province gets one (sacrificial cow); as for the weight, we expect it to be 800 kilograms to 1 ton. There's one, in West Nusa Tenggara Province, which weighed 1.4 tons. That's the limit. If it was below our set limit, we give two cows," he informed.
The cows would be handed over to mosques selected by the governor of each province, Hartono added.
"As for the proceedings, we know that foot-and-mouth disease issue (involving rampant infection spread). We and the governors will make sure that all the sacrificial cows meet the health requirements set by the relevant ministries," he said.
The sacrificial cows will go through health inspections conducted by regional governments, the Agriculture Ministry, Religious Affairs Ministry, and local agriculture offices.
"Next is, when (the animals) are given, time until they arrive at the appointed mosques. This morning, we coordinated with the governors. In almost all provinces, the (cows) would be sent by the governors, some would have deputy governors (to do it instead)," he said.
The governors of each province will also offer their own sacrificial cows alongside the ones provided by the President, Hartono added.
"As in, when Mr. President gives the cow, there will be some 30, 48, or 50 cows from the governor and the administration. Of course, in places such as Kalimantan and Sulawesi, there are some issues of delivery to the set location. In some areas, the slaughter process will be done on the second day," he informed.
Although the government has set July 10 as the date for Eid al-Adha, the central management of Muhammadiyah has set July 9 as the date instead, based on hilal (moon sighting) calculations conducted by Muhammadiyah Tarjih and Tajdid Assembly.
The difference is owing to observers at 86 locations not seeing the hilal. According to the Religious Affairs Ministry's meeting, since 1 Zulhijah fell on July 1, Eid al-Adha will fall on Zulhijah 10, or Sunday.
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Translator: Desca L N, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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