Lawmakers to spend $72,000 to monitor haj

Lawmakers to spend $72,000 to monitor haj

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Fourteen members of the House of Representatives will fly to
Saudi Arabia for 10 days to supervise the management of
Indonesia's haj pilgrimage at the cost of about Rp 670 million
(US$72,000).

The team will depart on Jan. 15 and return home on Jan. 25.

House Deputy Speaker Zaenal Ma'arif of the Reform Star Party
(PBR) said the cost of the initiative excluded transportation
costs for the team while in Saudi Arabia.

"We will get transportation facilities from the Indonesian
Consulate in Mecca. We need vehicles with special tags to help us
get around during our supervision," he said here on Thursday.

Zaenal, who is a member of the team going to Saudi Arabia,
said each legislator would receive a daily stipend and allowance
during their stay.

Zaenal, as a deputy speaker, will receive $270 per day, while
the other 13 team members will get $230 a day.

The 14 legislators will receive another $3,000 each simply for
their participation in this initiative.

One team member, actress-cum-politician Marissa Haque of the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), pledged the
utmost diligence in supervising the pilgrimage.

Indonesia sends about 220,000 haj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia
every year. Each pilgrim must pay about Rp 24 million and the
country collects about Rp 5.28 trillion from the haj each year.

Many of the haj pilgrims have to wait for as long as one year
after paying their fee to depart for Saudi Arabia. Many critics
have complained of the lack of transparency in the management of
the haj money, particularly considering that those who manage the
money could make a large profit from the interest gained by
keeping the haj fees in bank deposits.

"Is anyone abusing the system to make money from the interest
on the haj fees? There are many issues to be monitored," Marissa
said.

Akmaldin Noor of the National Mandate Party (PAN) said the
team would collect information in Saudi Arabia that would help
the House revise Law No. 17/1999 on the haj to improve the
system.

For example, Indonesian pilgrims have to pay more than
Malaysians. The cost in Malaysia is about RM 8,973 (about Rp 20
million), including air fare and accommodation in Saudi Arabia.

Marissa said that although Indonesian pilgrims paid more than
their counterparts in Malaysia, the Malaysians received better
facilities.

She pointed out as an example that Indonesian pilgrims stayed
about three kilometers from the Al Haram Mosque in Mecca, while
Malaysian pilgrims were located only between 100 meters and 500
meters from the mosque. The haj procession centers on the Al
Haram Mosque.