VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas. (ANTARA/Pradanna Putra Tampi) - 

Voinews, Jakarta - Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas will depart for Saudi Arabia on January 6, 2024, to ink a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the authority of Saudi Arabia regarding implementation of the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage.

"Inshallah (God willing), on January 6, I will depart for Saudi Arabia to sign an MoU on Hajj with the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," Qoumas remarked here on Wednesday.

The MoU will be related to various matters on the Hajj pilgrimage, such as the Hajj quota, accommodation, transportation, consumption, and services in Arafat, Muzdalifah, and Mina.

The minister noted that with the MoU in place, all preparations for the Hajj pilgrimage could be started.

According to Qoumas, the preparation process for Hajj continues to be accelerated. The ministry is currently awaiting the issuance of a Presidential Decree regarding the Cost of Organizing Hajj (BPIH) for 2024.

The decree will regulate the Hajj Travel Cost (Bipih) that should be paid by prospective Hajj pilgrims based on the embarkation points.

Although still awaiting the Presidential Decree, the Ministry of Religious Affairs announced that Bipih payments for prospective pilgrims in the regular Hajj pilgrimage category will open, starting on January 9, 2024.

The government and the House of Representatives (DPR) earlier agreed to set the BPIH at an average of Rp93.4 million (around US$6,033). Meanwhile, the Bipih that must be paid by each pilgrim is set at Rp56.04 million (around US$3,619).

The minister explained that the payment for this year's Hajj could be done in installments. This policy was taken to reduce the burden on prospective pilgrims.

However, he said that although the payment period has not yet been opened, prospective Hajj participants can start saving their money in their respective bank accounts, so that the funds will be ready later//VOI-ANT

Evacuees taking shelter in a tent following an earthquake in Sumedang, West Java. (ANTARA/HO-Kemensos) - 

Voinews, Jakarta - The Ministry of Social Affairs has been delivering logistics assistance to people affected by the 4.8-magnitude earthquake that jolted Sumedang District, West Java, on New Year's Eve on Sunday.

In a statement received in Jakarta on Wednesday, the ministry's Director General of Social Protection and Security, Robben Rico, noted that the people are in urgent need of tents for shelter, as the region is still experiencing aftershocks.

Despite the quake, in general, not inflicting heavy damage, the ministry will continue to provide logistics and a place for the people to take shelter in the event of aftershocks, he remarked.

"Based on my first-hand inspection, the overall damage is not severe. However, it is our responsibility to prepare. It is not enough to take merely responsive measures, as we cannot predict when an aftershock will occur," he emphasized.

Rico explained that the ministry had prepared multipurpose tents, family tents, and roll-up tents for the quake victims while noting that large-sized multipurpose tents had been set up at several evacuation points.

"We are receiving quite a high demand for tents. Most of the victims said they were afraid of being struck by an aftershock while staying at their homes, especially at night," he remarked.

In shelters, the ministry has prepared tents equipped with beds, portable toilets, fans, and food. It has also deployed its emergency response unit to build public kitchens to meet the people's need for food.

The ministry's aid included 22 multipurpose tents, 49 family tents, 20 roll-up tents, 105 beds, 140 blankets, 50 packages of children's equipment, 20 packages of kitchen tools, 240 packages of children's food, 70 pallets, 60 sheets of plywood, spotlights, and two thousand kilograms of rice//VOI-ANT

VOINews.id, Jakarta: The Indonesian government through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its deep condolences for the earthquake disaster that hit Japan.

Pedestrian gate of Gambir Station - 

Voinews, Jakarta - Before New Year eve 2024, Long Distance Train (KAJJ) passengers at Gambir Station and Pasar Senen Station were observed to be normal, in total there were around 23,991 tickets sold for departures today, Sunday (31/12).

Ixfan Hendriwintoko Public Relations Manager for Daop 1 Jakarta explained that based on ticket sales data, the volume of passengers departing on Friday (29/12) was recorded as the highest volume figure during the holiday period leading up to New Year 2024 for the Daop 1 Jakarta area, namely a total of around 42,446 passengers.

Departures for today, Sunday (31/12), returned to normal, namely a total of around 24,221 passengers, 5,941 passengers departed from Gambir Station with an operational service of 39 train trips and 12,080 passengers departed from Pasar Senen Station with an operational service of 34 train trips, while the remaining passengers departed from Bekasi, Karawang, Cikarang and other stations in the Daop1 Jakarta area.

These figures could still increase, considering that ticket sales for departures to the last train today are still open.

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Sunday (31/12/23), overall, the total number of tickets for Christmas 2023 and New Year 2024 (Nataru), tickets provided from KAI Operational Area 1 Jakarta (Daop 1Jakarta) for the 18 days of the Christmas period, December 21 2023 to January 7 2024, is 772,712 tickets, of that number as of Sunday ( 12/31) has sold more than 526 thousand tickets for departures from 21 Dec 2023 to 7 Jan 2024.

Meanwhile, if you look at the most popular dates based on train departure dates, they occur from 21 to 31 December 2023, in that 11 day period, of the 472,335 available tickets, around 423,690 were sold.

The remaining seats today, Sunday (31/12) to Sunday (7/1), are still 217 thousand seats, which is 63 percent of the seating capacity provided, namely 343,530 seats.

KAI hopes that people can plan their trips well and order tickets well in advance of departure because train tickets for the 2023 Christmas and New Year 2024 holidays can be booked starting 45 days before the selected departure schedule.

Train customers who will travel using KAI services are also advised to arrive early at the departure station at least 1 hour before their train departure.

"People who want to know about ticket availability can go online, namely the Access by KAI application which can be downloaded for free on Android and iOS devices. Apart from checking ticket availability, the Access by KAI application can also be used to order tickets, change schedules and cancel tickets.

"Aside from the ticket ordering application, it can also be done through official online and retail sales agents who have collaborated with KAI," said Ixfan.

All online stations are also equipped with CIC (Check In Counter) machines to print boarding pass tickets independently//VOI