Haj managers must reveal accounts, says watchdog

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 11/28/2009 1:07 PM

The Religious Affairs Ministry should improve transparency in its handling of funds paid for pilgrimages to Mecca, a watchdog said Friday.

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said the ministry had never provided the public with access to information on the disbursement of these funds.

"The House of Representative is the only institution that has dialogues with the ministry," ICW public service monitoring division coordinator Ade Irawan told The Jakarta Post.

The ministry also had overlapping roles, which had led the public to doubt its integrity, he said.

"The ministry is the regulator and administrator of pilgrimages, and is also the haj-performance evaluator," he said.

He recommended the government appoint an independent body as an administrator of the haj management, to prevent potential corruption.

"This independent body, through a website, should publicize data on the disbursement of these funds," he said.

"That's the cheapest way to make the information public."

The government could act as a regulator for the pilgrimage and an evaluator of the independent body.

"Haj management has fallen into the same pits, year after year," he said, pointing out that pilgrims suffered unnecessary hardships in terms of dormitories, transportation and food supplies.

Earlier, the House of Representatives' haj-monitoring team in Saudi Arabia reported that Indonesian pilgrims were subject to hardships they should not have had to endure.

The team noted problems with unsuitable accommodation. For instance, in some cases there was only one bathroom for 25 pilgrims.

"Not only that, we also found a number of shelters did not have sufficient water supplies," Muhammad Oheo Sinapoy from the Golkar Party said.

Indonesian pilgrims had departed late from Madinah to Mecca because transport had not run on time, the team reported, adding that most of the dormitories in Mecca were on the outer ring of the Masjid al-Haram grand mosque.

Just over one-third of the dormitories were within the inner ring of the grand mosque, they said.

The findings contradict a plan and regulations that stipulate that three-quarters of pilgrim dormitories must be near the grand mosque, the team said.

Contrary to statements made by lawmakers, the Religious Affairs Ministry director general for the Haj, Slamet Riyanto, said recently (via the ministry's website) he had established the Haj Media Center to inform the public of situations during the pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

The measure was an initiative undertaken by the ministry to improve transparency, he said. However, the website does not provide details on the disbursement of funds.

Ade said the only improvement the government had made was that was no increase this year to fees pilgrims paid for the pilgrimage. Pilgrims paid between US$3,240 and $3,575 this year, depending on which region they were from.

As of Thursday, 105 Indonesian pilgrims had died during the trip, mostly as a result of cardiac arrest or respiratory or circulation failures, metrotvnews.com reported.

Meanwhile, detiknews.com reported from Saudi Arabia that this year transportation arrangements were much improved, allowing better movement to perform the jumrah.

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