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.