Indonesian haj pilgrims feel they are ripped off

Indonesian haj pilgrims feel they are ripped off

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

It seems that agnostics will have the last laugh, with the highly
spiritual haj pilgrimage in this country being defiled by fraud
and embezzlement.

But there is nothing funny about the emerging corruption case
involving Rp 684 billion in haj pilgrimage funds at the Ministry
of Religious Affairs. The House of Representatives has also found
indications that in all probability much more money than this has
been embezzled over the years.

Meanwhile, haj pilgrims themselves have long complained about
the lack of transparency and accountability in the details of the
haj pilgrimage fee.

Lukman Hakim Nyakne of the haj pilgrimage guidance group
(KBIH) Iskandariah said each pilgrim must pay an obligatory fee
of US$316 to the ministry, ostensibly for transportation in
several worship places in Arafah and Medina.

"Over the past two years, however, each pilgrim must deposit
US$2,670. Two months afterwards, however, the ministry gives the
money back to the pilgrim, minus $316. This is questionable,
because why then does all the money have to be deposited in the
first place?" Lukman told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

When this matter was confirmed with the ministry, a spokesman
gave a confusing response, saying that the money was retained in
order to give the same treatment for pilgrims on the regular
package scheme and the special package scheme.

"They said that it's regulated in the Ministry's decree so I
guess there's not much that we can do," Lukman said.

Owner of KBIH Wakaf Madani, Zainun Kamal, said that there are
also other levies imposed on pilgrims, such as one referred to as
zakat, and an employee welfare fee.

"There have never been any explanations about these fees,"
said Zainun, a lecturer at Paramadina University.

He also questioned why pilgrims were compelled to pay the haj
fee of around Rp 26 million (around $2,700) one or two years in
advance.

"If pilgrims don't meet the quota, then the money is given
back. But it takes a long time (to return), up to six months,"
Zainun said.

Another problem raised was that the services provided to
pilgrims in the Holy Land turn out to be substandard and not
worth the money spent. Pilgrims often compare with pilgrims from
neighboring countries, particularly Malaysia, who pay less than
Indonesian pilgrims but who get much better service.

Malaysian pilgrims, for instance, were housed in areas close
to the Grand Mosque in Mecca and accommodated in good quality
dormitories.

Endah Soekarsono, who went on her pilgrimage last December,
said that the apartment she lived in was nice and comfortable,
but it was indeed very far from worship places.

"Every single day, however, we were given meals consisting of
rice and string beans. Whereas with the same money we paid we
could have got much better," said Endah, an editor at the Femina
group, who went on a regular haj package scheme.

The toughest thing, she said, was in one of the worship places
called Mina, where there were 74 tents with 40 people in each,
with only 40 toilets available for the 2,960 pilgrims.

"During my visit, a colleague made a calculation of the total
haj cost, and he found that the cost should have been only $2,552
instead of the total $2,881 we paid," Endah said.

She tried to see the silver lining, however, saying that the
shortcomings in the spiritual journey were a lesson to shed one's
ego.

With all the problems, Zainun urged the ministry to privatize
haj pilgrimage management instead of controlling the whole
system.

He believed that privatization would reduce the costs and
improve the services.

Lukman, meanwhile, thought that due to the high number of
pilgrims each year, the government still needed to maintain
control over management.

"The private sector is not necessarily corruption free, which
means government should also control them. But the government
must manage the haj system professionally and transparently," he
said.