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Govt under fresh fire over unclear haj money
With Rp 6 trillion in annual haj fees bringing it hundreds of billions of rupiah in interest, the Religious Affairs Ministry faces scathing criticism over its lack of transparency in managing the money
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With Rp 6 trillion in annual haj fees bringing it hundreds of billions of rupiah in interest, the Religious Affairs Ministry faces scathing criticism over its lack of transparency in managing the money.
The ministry, the country’s exclusive operator for the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, has drawn the ire of anti-corruption groups and legislators, who warned the murky management of the funds made room for officials to embezzle the pilgrims’ money.
“They collect trillions of rupiah from pilgrims, and we know nothing about it. They have been doing it for so many years. Imagine how much money we are talking about here,” House of Representatives member Soeripto said Friday.
Each year, Indonesia sends more than 200,000 pilgrims to Mecca. Prospective pilgrims are put on a two- to three-year waiting list because of the high number of Indonesian participants that always exceeds the quota allocated by the Saudi government.
Each then transfers Rp 20 million to the ministry’s accounts — just to get their names on the waiting list.
“Those registering now will leave in 2011 or 2012. The Rp 20 million is just the down payment. They must each pay the remaining fees (of around Rp 10 million) soon after the government, sometime this year, announces their departures,” said Zainun Kamal from the Wakaf Madani Foundation, a private agency that assists Indonesian pilgrims.
With the pilgrimage priced at Rp 30 million per person in Indonesia, the ministry collects Rp 6 trillion from 200,000 prospective pilgrims each year.
But with many opting for the much more expensive ONH Plus package, which costs US$4,000 to $6,000, the total spent by pilgrims is much higher.
Emerson Yuntho of Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said if the Rp 6 trillion haj fees were deposited in banks at an average 10 percent interest rate, up to Rp 600 billion in additional revenue would be generated.
“But where is the money now? Who gets it? We don’t know. We suspect it’s been embezzled. That’s why we reported it to the KPK (Corruption Eradication Corruption),” he said.
Although pilgrims pay the Rp 20 million registration fee a year or two in advance, they do not have any claim to the interest generated by that money.
The ministry has established an account for the revenue called a DAU account, but it too is considered shady.
“It is an off-budget fund. It can be used for anything — as a ‘cash-cow’ for political campaigns or to pay lawmakers to smooth the passage of programs or bills. We demand it be abolished and handed over to the state as non-tax revenue,” Emerson said.
Soeripto said such systemic corruption contributed to the poor management of the annual haj pilgrimage.
“I’ve just returned from Mecca to see the condition of our pilgrims. I found they were really neglected. In some tents, there was no water, while in other places they were starving. How can we have such a condition when our pilgrims pay a huge amount of money?” he said.
Indonesian pilgrims pay Rp 4.2 million more than Malaysian pilgrims, but receive much shoddier services, Soeripto said.
He added Malaysian pilgrims were housed in areas close to the Masjidil Haram Grand Mosque in Mecca and accommodated in decent dormitories, while Indonesian pilgrims were placed in remote housing areas, with overcrowding in almost all rooms.
