Improvement sought for haj management, accountability

Almost every year haj management is not free of complaints, criticisms and even controversy. These range from the tolerable to serious problems, including long queues for flights at Jeddah airport; bad dormitories; poor transport; and the alleged embezzlement of haj funds. Actually, the problems are almost the same, year to year.

This situation then raises the questions why such problems recur, and why the public remains in the dark as to whether the problems have been properly addressed by the government?

However, the Religious Affairs Ministry denies that the public thinks haj affairs are poorly managed.

The ministry even claims that the management of the haj this year has been better than previous years, advertising in real-time and online media, saying that it now has better accommodation arrangements, its transportation is better coordinated, its catering is more reliable and its healthcare services are integrated better.

Despite the ads, the parliamentary team supervising the haj management has revealed that this year, the same old problems took place. One bathroom, for instance, had to be shared by 25 haj pilgrims (The Jakarta Post, Nov. 23, 2009).

The team was also concerned with the treatment of the haj pilgrims themselves, who have difficulty getting into Masjidil Haram. According to Gondo Raditiyo Gambiro, the chairman of the House of Representatives (DPR) Monitoring Team, because of difficulties with the local transportation, many worshipers decided against worshiping at Masjidil Haram.

One website also reported the poor condition of the transport system there, showing a picture of a group of pilgrims being carried in an open-roofed car, intended for carrying cattle, agriculture commodities or goods. What an indecent of mode of transport!

It sounds hilarious when the ministry claims the haj management this year was better than before.

It might have been fair for it to make such claims if accurate data was available, independent assessors were involved and key performance indicators (KPIs) were set.

I have tried to find written documentation regarding the haj management, including financial, operational and procedural information, but unfortunately it was difficult for me to access such data.

Not surprisingly, this opaque situation could potentially lead to abuses of power, or the embezzlement of funds collected.

The continuous funding generated by haj pilgrims has proved too tempting for one of the previous ministers of religious affairs, and finally saw him sent him to prison.

Before this case emerged, the public did not know much about this fund.

It is indeed ironic that haj pilgrims have to save up for many years, or even sell their productive assets, but greedy officials shamelessly stole it.

Sadly, such crimes continue, according to law enforcers, with up to Rp 1.27 trillion from the haj funds embezzled by the ministry in 2009 (The Jakarta Post, Oct. 19).

The poor management of the haj, embezzlement and other irregularities are all made possible because the current accountability system is unclear, limited and ignores public participation.

Put simply, accountability means being able to account for one's actions (Mulgan, 2000). This implies there needs to be another party scrutinizing the principal-agent relationship.

Unfortunately, in terms of public interests, this supervision is poorly managed by the members of the House of Representatives, who are more busy with their own or party agendas.

As a result, although the haj issues have lasted annually for more than a few decades, the problems are relatively similar - and no significant breakthroughs have been made.

It is also apparent that the existence of the public has been neglected by blocking crucial data on the haj management.

Despite the ministry having an official website, unfortunately the data is still not available. To deal with these problems, some measures need to be taken.

First, a professional and inde-pendent team is urgently needed to address issues surrounding haj affairs.

The team should set up key performance indicators (KPIs) used to monitor and assess the Religious Affairs Ministry, particularly the directorate general of haj and umrah affairs.

At least three aspects should be taken into account, covering financial, operational and procedural aspects.

Second, one year before the haj arrangements are made, the ministry should openly expose the haj management, including targets that should be achieved.

This allows every member of the public to take part by making suggestions, criticisms or providing feedback.

Third, after accomplishing its tasks, the ministry, particularly the haj and umrah directorate general must publish accountability reports regarding the haj management, including the KPIs it has established.

Fourth, based on accountability reports submitted by the ministry and field monitoring, the performance of the ministry can be assessed objectively rather than with self-claimed success stories we have heard from the ministry lately. And the result of these assessments should also be made public.

Fifth, the work of the professional and independent team should be used by the members of the House to address haj issues by optimizing its management, while people can watch the mechanism and determine the seriousness of House members in resolving such issues.

Actually, the existence of a professional and independent team is not necessary if the House members perform their tasks properly.

It is apparent that the poor performance of the haj management has also been partly caused by consistent poor behavior of House members.

Initially it seemed to be a good way to supervise and even criticize the government.

However, over time they began to forget such problems, and as a result, similar haj problems recur each year.

In a nutshell, we have to begin to build a written, transparent and measurable system to be infused in our governmental system so that haj issues can be monitored, mapped, compared and addressed properly and quickly.

Public participation should also be returned to the proper place in which every member of society can easily access important data regarding haj affairs.

It has been a long time we have missed good stories about haj management.

The writer is a postgraduate student at the University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia. This is a personal opinion.