Ministry collects Rp 7.5t haj funds

JAKARTA: The Ministry of Religious Affairs is seeking ways to manage a whopping Rp 7.5 trillion (US$773 million) in haj funds in an accountable manner before it hands over the handling of the money to the central bank next year.

Minister of Religious Affairs Maftuh Basyuni said on Thursday the ministry was studying practices in other countries, including Malaysia.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle legislator Said Abdullah said the ministry had raked in Rp 7.5 trillion from pilgrims' Rp 20 million down payments for haj trips between 2004 and 2007. The payments were transferred to the ministry's account.

Abdullah said the ministry should publicly demonstrate its accountability in the funds' management, including its interest.

The request comes as the interdepartmental anticorruption team is investigating the alleged misuse of nearly Rp 700 billion in unused haj funds between 2001 and 2004. Former religious affairs minister Said Agil Hussein Al Munawar has been named a suspect in the case. -- Antara