Jakarta – Religious and anticorruption activists are calling for an end to the monopoly of the Religious Affairs Ministry over haj management so pilgrims can have better service.
Indonesian Corruption Watch's (ICW) public services head, Ade Irawan, said here Thursday that monopolistic, opaque government policy made the haj management vulnerable to corruption.
The ministry "deals with a huge amount of money in managing the haj, around Rp 9.07 trillion (US$974.6 million) per year, but it's been doing it without transparency and accountability," Ade told a media conference.
Another ICW member, Firdaus Ilyas, said misappropriation of a total of Rp 387.8 billion had allegedly occurred in haj fund management in 2006 alone and cited a 2006 audit by the Supreme Audit Agency in support of the allegations.
He said the amount that each pilgrim had to pay to participate was increasing every year; even though state budget funds earmarked for supporting haj participants were also increasing.
A representative of the Public Interest Research and Advocacy Center (PIRAC), As'ad Nugroho, said the high cost of performing the haj was due to flight costs which accounted for 50 percent of the total.
In 2007, the haj trip cost an average of Rp 27 million, he said. "The Religious Affairs Ministry sets the flight cost at $1,200 per head, but from interviews with travel agencies, we find a pilgrim can actually pay as little as $900," said As'ad.
Head of the Indonesian Haj Association, Ade Marfuddin, said the pilgrimage was costly because trips for high-level officials and legislators were in essence being subsidized by ordinary pilgrims "and fees for maintenance of buses and dormitories all come from the pilgrims as well".
Ade Irawan said that mismanagement or fraud was also suspected in the procurement of food for haj pilgrims. "Do you know that Indonesian pilgrims have to pay double what Malaysian or Thai pilgrims pay for food? There are more of us, we should be paying less." The ICW had a list of eight specific haj management concerns.
At the top were issues about procurement and appointment of pilgrimage-related products and services: air passage, catering, accommodations and haj accessories and garments. The remaining list items focused on financial aspects of the haj business, including management of haj fund interest and the perpetual haj fund.
ICW urged the government to follow up BPK's audit results that found indications of misappropriation within the ministry.
PIRAC and the Indonesian Haj Association, meanwhile, urged the House to thoroughly overhaul the haj management enabling law of 1999.
"The law provides the Religious Affairs Ministry too much authority and allows it to play regulator and executor, as well as operator. This results in zero control (over the country's haj programs)" said Ade Marfuddin. As'ad said two-year-old attempts at reform had disappointed and legislators appeared to "have the same stance" as the ministry.
"The current minister should have learned from his predecessor and shouldn't make the same mistakes. And he could start with establishing transparency." (wda)