TH yet to receive confirmation on withdrawal of haj quota reduction from Saudi govt

The Pilgrims Fund Board (TH) has yet to receive any official confirmation letter from the Saudi Arabian Haj Ministry on the withdrawal of the haj pilgrims quota reduction implemented since 2013.

The Corporate Communication and Public Affairs Division of TH group said in a statement today that news on the withdrawal of the quota reduction was reported in the social websites.

"The TH will inform everyone after receiving the official confirmation from the Saudi Arabian Haj Ministry later," the statement said.

According to TH, Malaysia's original haj quota was 0.1 per cent of the national population as reported in the statistics of the United Nations which was 27,900 pilgrims.

In 2013, the Saudi Arabian government reduced the quota by 20 per cent for all nations following expansion work on the 'Masjidil Haram' in Makkah.

The haj quota for Malaysians was reduced to 22,320 pilgrims from 2013 until 2015.

The media today reported that the Saudi Arabian government decided to withdraw the quota for pilgrims, imposed five years ago, beginning this year.

-- BERNAMA