Banjarmasin, S Kalimatan (ANTARA) - Head of South Kalimantan Office of Religious Affairs Ministry (Kemenag) Dr H Muhammad Tambrin said that it has been detected that umrah departure in the province has reached 60,000 per year.
"When I was first served as Head of South Kalimantan Office of Religious Affairs Ministry in 2021, I asked head of Hajj and Umrah how many umrah pilgrims per year. It was 25,000 people," he recalled here, Saturday.
But, he told, he then talked to Head of the South Kalimantan Office of Law and Human Rights Ministry and also Immigration, it turned out the number had reached 60,000 per year.
"You can imagine the how large the umrah market share in South Kalimantan," he said.
This also proves that the economy of the people of South Kalimantan has improved after the pandemic, to the point that people flocked to perform umrah to Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia.
With the increasing interest in umrah, Tambrin said, the Provincial Government of South Kalimantan, in this case Governor H Sahbirin Noor, encouraging direct umrah departure from Syamsuddin Noor International Airport to Saudi.
"This is our Governor's concern for services for umrah pilgrims in this province. So, we coordinate with Angkasa Pura, Law and Human Rights Ministry Office. Indeed, the authority is in the Ministry of Transportation," he said.
The struggle continues so that flight services for umrah in this province no longer have to start from Jakarta and others.
"This is what we are striving with the help of the Governor and Regional Secretary who have given much attention," Tambrin pointed out.
However, he said, his office keeps reminding people to be careful while picking umrah travel agents to avoid falling victim to fraud.
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