EFEST 2015 - TEKS NEWS ANCHOR

Emirates NDB mulls establishment 
of Islamic banking unit 
in RI

Grace D. Amianti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Business | Tue, September 22 2015, 5:43 PM

Emirates NBD, the Middle East’s largest banking group by assets, is considering establishing a new Islamic banking center in Indonesia, a regulatory official has said.

Dhani Gunawan Idat, director for research and development, banking regulation and licensing at the Financial Services Authority (OJK), has confirmed that the bank was “seriously” reviewing the possibility of establishing a subsidiary in the country.

“The bank will not acquire an existing Islamic lender in Indonesia, but rather will establish a new one,” Dhani said recently.

Dhani said the bank was planning to invest more than Rp 1 trillion (US$68.7 million) for the future subsidiary. The OJK demands that an Islamic bank have a minimum paid-up capital reserve of Rp 1 trillion before it can begin operation.

According to Dhani, the OJK is ready to receive the bank’s application. The assessment and due diligence process could be completed by next year if the proposal was submitted as soon as possible by its shareholders.

“The review process will include a thorough study on the bank’s background details, including its shareholders and board of management. The OJK will grant approval if we don’t find any problematic issues during the review,” Dhani said.

Emirates NBD, which owns a wide array of operations in various regions in and beyond the Middle East, was formed in 2007 after a merger between Emirates Bank International and National Bank of Dubai (NBD), the second and fourth largest banks in the United Arab Emirates, respectively.

According to its latest financial report, Emirates NBD has US$105.6 billion in its total assets and operates 220 branches as well as 900 automated teller machines (ATMs) and cash deposit machines (CDMs) worldwide. In 2013, Emirates NBD opened an office in Jakarta as an extension of its regional branch office in Singapore to help seek opportunities for syndicated and corporate loans in Indonesia.

The bank saw that Indonesia made up the largest part of its Singapore branch’s business, according to Emirates NBD international general manager Kevin Flannery during the office opening in 2013.

Because the bank has also opened offices in Beijing, China and Mumbai, India in the past few years, it is expected that the efforts in Indonesia could help the headquarters to increase the contribution of markets outside the UAE, including the Asia Pacific, by 20 percent of its total assets.

Despite the fact that economic growth fell to a six year-low of 4.7 percent in the first half of this year, the country’s banking industry, including the Islamic finance sector, was still deemed as having potential to grow in the future.

OJK deputy commissioner for banking supervision Mulya Effendi Siregar said the country’s Islamic banking industry was expected to grow between 12 and 13 percent this year amid weak economic growth.

According to the OJK’s latest assessment, financing in Islamic banks grew around 7 to 8 percent as the country’s two largest sharia lenders were still focused on improving their weak performances.

Bank Syariah Mandiri (BSM), which is a subsidiary of state-owned Bank Mandiri, as well as Bank Muamalat Indonesia, stood as the country’s largest Islamic banks by assets, reaching Rp 66.95 trillion and Rp 55.85 trillion respectively as of June.

Palm oil levy to take affect 
later this month

Grace D. Amianti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Business | Thu, May 07 2015, 8:06 AM

From the end of this month, the government will impose a levy on the exports of palm oil to help develop the local palm industry and pay biodiesel subsidies.

Under the new regulation, signed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Tuesday, palm oil exporters must pay a levy of US$50 per metric ton for crude palm oil (CPO) and $30 for processed palm oil products. The levy is imposed only if the CPO price exceeds $750 per ton.

Coordinating Economic Minister Sofyan Djalil said in Jakarta on Wednesday that the government was preparing a ministerial regulation as a legal basis for the establishment of a special public service agency (BLU) within the ministry that would collect and manage the levy.

“The ministerial regulation will be completed this week, followed by the appointment of the agency’s board of directors soon after, so the levy will come into effect by the end of this month,” Sofyan said on the sidelines of the 2015 International Conference and Exhibition on Palm Oil in Jakarta.

He said the agency would have a structure comprising three boards of management — a steering committee consisting of six ministers and a board of commissioners as well as a board of directors filled with professionals.

The six ministers that will comprise the steering committee are the coordinating economic minister, agriculture minister, industry minister, trade minister and finance minister, Sofyan added.

“It is important to select the right people for the board of directors, because they will manage the fund required for annual audits,” Sofyan said while refusing to mention prospective names for the position.

According to Sofyan, the agency is expected to collect at least $700 million each year, of which 40 percent is to be allocated to biodiesel subsidies, while the remaining 60 percent is for improving state plantations.

In mid-March, the government announced the levy, called the Crude Palm Oil Supporting Fund (CPO Fund), to be used primarily for biodiesel development as the country intended to lower fossil-fuel imports as well as improve local palm oil plantations through research, replanting and revitalization.

In addition to the levy, palm oil producers will continue to pay export tax of between 7.5 and 22.5 percent, if prices exceed $750 per ton. 

The tax rate is reviewed every month based on monthly average prices in Jakarta; Rotterdam, the Netherlands; and Kuala Lumpur. But since October last year, duties were cut to zero as CPO prices dipped below the reference price.

Currently, CPO trades at $614 per ton and its benchmark prices fell nearly 15 percent last year.

Indonesia has, in recent years, boosted the domestic use of more environmentally friendly biodiesel, which is derived from palm oil, to cut carbon emissions and help absorb the increasing supply of the world’s most-traded cooking oil.

The Jokowi administration has also increased the mandatory mix of biofuel in diesel fuel from 10 to 15 percent as part of its solution of taming the volatility of the rupiah, as reduced oil imports will improve the country’s current account situation and in turn improve its economic fundamentals.

The administration has also raised biodiesel subsidies to Rp 4,000 (31 US cents) per liter from the previous Rp 1,500 to make the fuel more appealing to consumers.

Pertamina suffers Rp 15t loss from sale of Premium fuel

RarasCahyafitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Business | Sat, September 26 2015, 5:40 PM

State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina has reported large losses from its fuel business after selling the popular Premium gasoline below the current market price.

Pertamina vice president for corporate communication WiandaPusponegoro said the company would have to bear aRp 15 trillion gap after selling fuel, particularly the Premium-brand gasoline, below its market value between January and August. 

The figure was around Rp 2.5 trillion higher than the Rp 12.5 trillion gap reported at the end of July. “At this moment, the market price is still higher than our Premium price of Rp 7,400 per liter,” Wianda said.

Pertamina currently sells Premium-branded gasoline at Rp 7,400 per liter in Java and Bali and at Rp 7,300 per liter in other areas. Meanwhile for subsidized diesel, the price is set at Rp 6,900 per liter. 

The prices, as regulated by the government, have been in place since late March, although the market price has hovered between Rp 8,150 per liter in April and Rp 9,350 per liter in July.

Earlier this year, the government eliminated the subsidy for Premium-brand gasoline and overhauled the subsidy mechanism for diesel to a fixed Rp 1,000 per liter. The fuel prices now follow the fluctuations of the global price.

The policy ran well when the global oil price was under pressure. However, when the prices inched up in the early second quarter of the year, the government didn’t increase the price as part of an attempt to maintain the people’s purchasing power. 

This forced Pertamina to carry the price gap, and no more reimbursement will be received by the company as the subsidy mechanism for Premium gasoline has been eliminated.

When the price started heading to a new low recently, the government also decided to maintain the price to balance the gap carried by Pertamina. A review on the price is expected to be carried out this October.

“We are expecting certainty from the government about the price so that we can decide on our next strategy,” Wianda said.

The benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude price for November was at US$45.11 per barrel on Friday, according to figures from Bloomberg. Another benchmark Brent price for November settlement was at $48.2 per barrel. The prices are now less than a half of last year’s prices.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said confirmed the government had decided not to increase the fuel price amid declining global oil prices in an effort to offset Pertamina’s losses. 

Sudirman added that the government had considered introducing an energy security fund that would be used to fill the gap in fuel prices in the future.

Under the plan, the fund will manage surplus money obtained when the government sets the fuel price higher than the market price. The surplus will be used to fill the gap when fuel is sold below its market price. Through the mechanism, a ceiling and bottom limit of the fuel price will be set.

Sudirman also acknowledged that imposing an excise on fuel was a potential source of funds to support the energy security fund. 

“It is an option. However, we have to assess it first,” Sudirman said.

Japan government slashes stadium 
cost by US$1.27b

The Yomiuri Shimbun/Asia News Network | Sports | Sat, August 29 2015, 1:49 PM

The Japan government decided Friday on a new construction plan for the new National Stadium that limits the number of spectator seats to 68,000 and keeps construction costs to 155 billion yen (US$1.27 billion), a sharp drop from the original plan.

An international competition to choose the stadium’s design, architect and builders is expected to be held in November. The government is aiming to complete the stadium, which will serve as the main venue for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, by the end of April 2020.

The new plan was decided at a meeting of related ministers chaired by Toshiaki Endo, the state minister for the 2020 Games, at the Prime Minister’s Office on Friday morning.

“We achieved significant cost cutting. Now we need to ensure the stadium’s construction is completed in time for the 2020 event,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at the meeting.

The new plan’s total construction cost, which has been the main focus of attention, is down 110 billion yen from the original 265.1 billion yen. The original figure included the 252 billion yen that had been announced under the old plan and other, undisclosed expenses.

In giving up the main feature of the initial design — the two gigantic arches that would support the roof — and building a smaller roof that only covers the upper part of the stands, the new plan cuts the construction cost for the roof to 23.8 billion yen, down from the initial 95 billion yen.

The number of spectator seats during the Games will also be reduced by 4,000 from the initial 72,000, but the new plan still satisfies the requirement set by the International Olympic Committee for main stadiums to have a capacity of about 60,000.

To satisfy the requirement for football World Cup stadiums to have a capacity of at least 80,000, a further 12,000 seats can be added to the section that will be occupied by the athletics track during the Games.

Construction of a sports museum and outdoor observation passage have also been eliminated from the plan, while facilities such as a luxurious lounge and VIP seats will be kept but minimised.

With plans to downsize underground parking lots and other facilities, the total area of the new stadium will be 194,500 square meters, about 13 percent less than the original plan.

The stadium will be a facility exclusively for sports events in principle, but it will also be able to function as an evacuation point for local residents during disasters and other large-scale emergencies.

The government was divided over whether to install air-conditioning in the spectator area — at an estimated cost of about 10 billion yen— until the final stages of the decision. Ultimately, it decided against it at the direction of Abe, who called for a further reduction of the stadium’s total cost.

“Air conditioners are installed in only two stadiums around the world, and they can only cool temperatures by 2 degree Celsius or 3 degree Celsius,” Endo said at a press conference.

Because the International Olympic Committee has asked the government to complete the stadium by the end of January 2020, “we’ll strive to shorten the construction period, in the hope of finishing by the end of January,” Chief Cabinet Secretary YoshihideSuga said at a press conference.

EU slams Indonesia, others 
on climate summit targets 

Lachlan Carmichael, Agence France-Presse, Brussels | World | Thu, August 20 2015, 9:27 PM

The EU on Thursday urged India, Indonesia, Brazil and other major economies to immediately submit their emissions reductions targets to help avoid failure at the UN climate summit in Paris later this year.

In hard-hitting remarks in Brussels, EU Climate and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete warned that the window of opportunity for 195 countries to agree a deal aimed at limiting the rise in global temperatures "is closing fast" and called for speeding up technical negotiations.

So far he said 56 countries representing 61 percent of global green-house gas emissions have handed in their reduction pledges, just over a quarter of the total countries.

"Key G20 countries such as Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey must submit their intended contributions without delay," the Spanish commissioner said.

In March, the European Union, the world's third biggest emitter, became one of the first blocs or countries to formally submit its pledge to the United Nations.

The second biggest polluter the United States and the number one emitter China have also submitted their pledges in the last few months.

Canete praised these contributions, also noting the efforts of "some of the most vulnerable countries from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific" to come up with proposals.

The failure of so many of the world's 20 biggest economies to submit their pledges made it difficult to calculate the total cuts still needed to limit global warming to no more than two degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels, Canete said.

The calculation needs to be done quickly, he said, to "know where we stand" before the climate conference, which kicks off in around 100 days in the French capital.

"The window of opportunity to keep the global rise in temperature to two degrees is closing fast," he warned.

Canete's remarks were the first time such a senior EU official had publicly named countries to come forward quickly with their emission reduction pledges.

EU sources told AFP the 28-nation EU already launched in March a campaign urging 60 countries to submit their pledges as soon as possible but analysts said the appeals fell on deaf ears despite the bloc's combined diplomatic heft.

He also said that while governments have increasingly demonstrated the "political will" to reach an agreement, "in the negotiating room progress has been painfully slow."

He added: "The technical negotiations must go faster."

The European Union has tried to lead by example.

Last October its member states agreed to cut emissions by 40 percent by 2030 over a benchmark of 1990, a binding target that Canete hails as the world's "most ambitious."

US President Barack Obama set a target for the United States, the world's second biggest polluter after China, to cut its overall emissions by 26-28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025.

The UN Paris conference from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11 will seek to crown a six-year effort by 195 nations with a post-2020 pact on curbing greenhouse gases.

"Paris needs to send a credible signal the world is serious about fighting climate change," Canete warned.

According to the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the global mean temperature could rise by up to 4.8 C this century alone, a recipe for more drought, flood and rising seas.

RI refuses Singapore’s help in forest fires

Hans Nicholas Jong, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Sat, September 12 2015, 6:12 PM

Indonesia has declined Singapore’s offer to assist the Indonesian government in fighting forest fires as Singapore and parts of Malaysia continued to be blanketed by clouds of smoke originating from the island of Sumatra and Kalimantan. 

While Indonesia greatly appreciates the offer, the government is well-equipped to handle the current situation, according to Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar.

“Right now there are already 17 aircraft ready for water bombing and cloud seeding and we will also deploy an additional three planes,” she told The Jakarta Post on Friday, adding that the aircraft have been stationed in five provinces affected by forest fires. 

Singapore again extended the assistance package that has been offering the Indonesian government since 2005. Singapore Environment and Water Resources minister Vivian Balakrishnan conveyed Singapore’s concern at the deteriorating situation to Siti, according to a press statement by the Singapore National Environment Agency.

The package Singapore offered comprised one C-130 aircraft for cloud seeding operations, up to two C-130 aircraft to ferry a fire-fighting assistance team from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), a team from SCDF to provide assessment and planning assistance to their Indonesian counterparts in their firefighting efforts, high resolution satellite pictures and hot spot coordinates and one Chinook helicopter with one SCDF water bucket for aerial firefighting.

“According to available information, Singapore will send one or two aircraft with the water bombing capacity of around 5,000 liters. What we use [at the moment] already have capacities of between 3,000 and 5,000 liters, plus we rent Air Tractors from Australia. So I think [the assistance from Singapore] is not yet needed because our fleet is already numerous. But we thank them for the offer,” Siti said. 

Vivian also called for urgent action to be undertaken, including stricter enforcement against the perpetrators and the identification of those responsible for the haze in order to facilitate appropriate action.

Singapore has repeatedly urged Indonesia to publicly share maps on agricultural concessions owned by oil palm, timber and other commodity companies, which are often blamed for starting the fires, particularly in neighboring Sumatra.

Doing so will send an unequivocal signal that ASEAN countries are prepared to be transparent and hold individual companies accountable for their actions, according to Singapore.

The Indonesian government, however, has refused to comply, with Siti saying that Indonesian laws prevent the government from sharing concession maps. 

During a meeting in Jakarta in late July, environment ministers from five ASEAN nations, including Indonesia, agreed to sharing information on a government-to-government basis that would help identify plantation companies on whose land fires start and cause haze.

The director general of climate change at the Indonesian Environment and Forestry Ministry, Nur Masripatin, told the Straits Times, however, that Indonesia could not disclose any plantation concession information, even on a government-to-government basis.

“Disclosing whose concession a certain hot spot is in would amount to disclosing a concession map,” said Masripatin, who is in charge of overseeing efforts to contain forest and land fires and who reports to Siti. “That is classified information. The government cannot do that.” 

Singapore and Malaysia recorded alarming levels of air pollution on Thursday as the Indonesian government has yet to quell forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Jakarta to share names of culprits behind hazefires

Francis Chan, The Straits Times/ANN | National | Sat, September 19 2015, 9:46 AM

Indonesia will soon share with Singapore the names of companies responsible for the illegal forest fires that caused the haze, so that they can be punished, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Friday.

The news came after Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam called his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi earlier to express his deep concern over the ongoing haze crisis. He said strong action was needed against the companies, and urged Indonesia to share their names with Singapore.

The MFA said in a statement that Ms. Retno responded with word that Indonesia's Ministry of Environment and Forestry will provide the details to Singapore's Environment and Water Resources Ministry soon.

"Minister Shanmugam welcomed this and said Singapore would take action against these companies to the fullest extent of our laws once the names were provided," said MFA. "Minister Shanmugam also emphasized the importance of finding a longer-term solution to address the causes of the haze, given that this was a recurrent problem."

Parts of Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia have been blanketed in a thick haze caused by the illegal burning of peat land and forests in Indonesia in recent weeks.

Fingers have been pointed at large plantation companies and their suppliers, who in turn blame small-time farmers and indigenous village folk for the fires.

Indonesia's national police, however, have since arrested more than 140 suspects, including seven corporate executives, for turning a blind eye to fires burning on estates accorded to them for cultivation, thus breaking environmental laws.

Mr. Shanmugam said he welcomed the steps taken by Indonesia thus far to address the haze issue, including the declaration of a state of emergency in affected provinces and its investigations of errant companies suspected of causing the fires.

Indonesia's decision to share the names of companies behind the illegal fires comes after its Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar on Thursday made a U-turn on Vice-President Jusuf Kalla's invitation to Singapore to help fight the haze. She had also previously agreed to reveal the firms' names to her Singapore counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan, but had yet to do so as of yesterday.

Singapore's Ambassador to Indonesia, Mr. Anil Kumar Nayar, had told CNN Indonesia on Wednesday that Singapore has no interest in protecting any company or individual implicated in the illegal forest fires that have led to the haze crisis.

And if they are found in Singapore and proof is provided, action will be taken against them based on laws here, he said.

"It's because the problem they are causing is a problem not just for Singaporeans, but for everyone in Indonesia, Malaysia and the region... so we will definitely take action, but for that, we will need the support and the information from our friends in Indonesia," he said.

Mr. Shanmugam also said yesterday that the haze had a negative economic impact on the entire region and "greater regional efforts and cooperation were needed to effectively combat the haze problem".

He emphasized that all Asean states should follow through and fulfill their obligations under the Agreement on Transboundary Haze that all 10 Asean members have signed. These include operationalizing the Asean Haze Monitoring System, said the MFA.

Haj stampede beyond human control, says top Saudicleric

Agence France-Presse, Mina, Saudi Arabia | World | Sat, September 26 2015, 7:02 PM

Saudi Arabia's top religious leader said a stampede which killed 717 pilgrims was beyond human control, official media reported on Saturday (Sept 26), the final day of this year's haj.

The stampede was the worst disaster in a quarter-century to strike the annual event and drew fierce criticism of the Saudi authorities' handling of safety, particularly from regional rival Iran.

"You are not responsible for what happened", Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh told Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef in a meeting in Mina on Friday, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

"As for the things that humans cannot control, you are not blamed for them. Fate and destiny are inevitable," Sheikh told the prince, who is also minister of interior.

Mohammed chairs the Saudi haj committee and has ordered an investigation into Friday's stampede during a symbolic stoning of the devil ritual by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims at Jamarat Bridge in Mina, just outside the holy city of Mecca.

King Salman, whose official title is "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" in Mecca and Medina, also ordered "a revision" of how the haj is organized.

On Saturday, groups of pilgrims were moving from early morning towards Jamarat Bridge for the last of three stoning days.

The interior ministry has said it assigned 100,000 police to secure the haj and manage crowds.

But pilgrims blamed the stampede on police road closures and poor management of the flow of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims in searing temperatures.

Abdullah al-Sheikh, chairman of the Shura Council, an appointed body which advises the government, stressed that pilgrims must stick to "the rules and regulations taken by the security personnel... In doing so they protect their lives, their security and facilitate their performing of the rituals."

Health Minister Khaled al-Falih earlier made similar remarks that faulted the worshippers.

In comments carried late Friday by SPA, the Shura chairman called on citizens and Muslims to ignore "the biased campaigns carried out by the enemies of this pure country, to question the great efforts exerted by the kingdom to serve the holy sites, their construction and expansion, and to serve the visitors and pilgrims."

Riyadh's regional rival Iran said 131 of its nationals were among the victims, and on Friday stepped up its criticism of the kingdom, demanding that affected countries have a role in the Saudi investigation into the disaster.

"Saudi Arabia is incapable of organizing the pilgrimage," said Ayatollah Mohammad EmamiKashani, leading the main weekly prayers in Teheran.

"The running of the haj must be handed over to Islamic states," he said.

Several African countries confirmed deaths in the stampede, as did India, Indonesia, Pakistan and the Netherlands. Moroccan media gave 87 nationals killed.

Nigeria's President MuhammaduBuhari urged King Salman "to ensure a comprehensive and thorough exercise that will identify any flaws in haj organization".

Buhari said his country had lost a prominent journalist, a professor "and others" in the tragedy.

Largely incident-free for nine years after safety improvements, this year's haj was afflicted by double tragedy.

Days before it started, a construction crane collapsed at the Grand Mosque, Islam's holiest site, killing 109 people including many foreigners.

The haj is one of the five pillars of Islam, which each of the world's more than 1.5 billion Muslims is expected to perform at least once in his or her lifetime, as long as they are capable.

RI pilgrims to return home as planned

Ina Parlina, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Sat, September 26 2015, 6:05 PM

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo expressed his hope on Friday that a haj stampede in Mina, Saudi Arabia, that killed hundreds of pilgrims, including three Indonesians, on Thursday, would never reoccur.

“The President has offered his condolences for the Mina incident, and the President fervently hopes it will not occur again. Such incidents have happened several times,” Presidential Chief of Staff TetenMasduki said on Friday.

Indonesia, Teten added, had “a need to talk with the Saudi government to ensure that the haj management provides security, safety and comfort for our haj pilgrims”.

This year, Indonesian pilgrim numbers reached 168,000.

The Mina stampede took place at a crossroads on Street 204 — one of the two main arteries leading through the camp at Mina to Jamarat, the site where pilgrims ritually stone the devil by hurling pebbles at three large pillars. The stampede killed more than 700 people and injured hundreds. In 2006, at least 346 pilgrims died in a similar incident at Jamarat.

According to the official website of the Religious Affairs Ministry, the whereabouts of 225 pilgrims, mostly from Jakarta, was, as of Friday afternoon, still not known. The ministry explained there were several reasons for this, including that the missing had been visiting relatives or friends from different batches.

“It still cannot be determined whether they were included in the Mina victims or not,” the statement read.

“The event will not alter the set schedules for Indonesian pilgrims, and the schedule to return [to Indonesia] will not be postponed,” Religious Affairs Ministry spokesman RosidinKaridi said on Friday.

In the meantime, an official said the incident would not hamper the set return schedule for Indonesian pilgrims, with the first group to come home on Sept. 29.

According to Rosidin, Indonesian pilgrims in Saudi have returned to their normal activities following the incident.

Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin repeated his warning to all Indonesian pilgrims to abide by the schedule for performing the jumrah throwing ritual, as recommended by the Indonesian haj committee (PPIH) in Saudi Arabia. Some of the Indonesian victims were believed to have gone to the site outside of the set schedule and taken a different path.

“As the amirul haj [the government-appointed leader of the haj], I advise all Indonesian pilgrims to perform the jumrah throwing ritual in the morning after subuh [pre-dawn prayers] or in the afternoon before maghrib [dusk],” Lukman said as quoted by Antara news agency.

The Indonesian haj committee in Saudi had initially prepared for such an incident by prohibiting Indonesia pilgrims from performing the throwing ritual between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Thursday, and between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The road that is usually taken by Indonesia pilgrims is King Fahd Street, which is located next to Street 204.

Lukman also reminded Indonesian pilgrims to remain calm amid rife unverified information.

The Foreign Ministry’s director for the protection of Indonesian nationals and entities abroad, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, also called on people to wait for the official result of a Saudi investigation into the tragedy.

“It is better for us [all] not to speculate on the causes of the incidents. Let’s give a chance to the Saudi government to complete the investigation, while focusing on giving the victims the best handling process possible,” Lalu said as quoted by kompas.com.