Jakarta – The controversial joint ministerial regulation on houses of worship is not only manipulated by hard-liners but also misused by authorities to extort money, says a church leader.
Chairman of the Bekasi Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI Bekasi) Soaduon Napitupulu said "everyone wants their share. The interfaith forum members, the city administration officials, not to mention thugs, and even some members of the community," he told The Jakarta Post Friday.
Interfaith Communication Forum (FKUB) is formed under the 2006 Joint Ministerial Decree on Places of Worship, which stipulates that a new house of worship must obtain a recommendation letter from the provincial religious affairs office and the FKUB before gaining final approval from the local administration.
How much illegal money could be spent to obtain permit for a church building in the Greater Jakarta?
"I'd say hundreds of million rupiah. From small baksheesh just like security money to huge amounts of swag," Soaduon said, adding that a man once asked a church official for a new car in exchange for a church building permit. He explained that these racketeers had an armory of excuses to halt licensing processes.
Jeirry Sumampow from the national PGI said the FKUB had abused their power. "FKUBs actually have money as they are funded by local governments," he said. Jeirry said that, even worse, the bad guys were often the church representatives at the forums.
However, John O. Marthen from Bekasi municipality FKUB representing Christians denied the accusation, saying that extortion never occurred.
"There's no such extortion and we never halt any processes. Our office has recommended 14 churches, a lot in comparison to other FKUBs including Bogor or Cirebon [in West Java] that have only produced three recommendations since their establishment," he said.
Hasnul Pasaribu who represents Muslims in the forum also emphasized there was no such bribery nor extortion. "Normally, it takes two months [to process the permit], but sometimes it takes longer time since so many documents have to be verified," he said.
Rev. Erwin Marbun from HKBP Getsemanie in Bekasi said his church had paid the forum Rp 2.5 million to assist them relocating to a new site in 2008. "But we never got the land," he said.
Hendrik Sirait from the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) said he had come across a case of extortion committed by a local community figure against HKBP Parung Panjang in Bogor regency in their struggle to get a permit.
"Someone sent a text message to the church in 2009 asking them to pay Rp 500 million to continue their worship," said Hendrik, who advocated HKBP Parung Panjang, adding that the church never paid the amount. Bogor public order agency closed the church in July 2009, citing that it was unlicensed. (ipa)