Receiving the Supervisory Board and Executive Body of BPKH, the Vice President Asks for a More Efficient Hajj Management

Jakarta, wapresri.go.id – Vice President (Wapres) KH Ma’ruf Amin received an audience of the Head of the Executive Body and the Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Hajj Fund Management Agency (BPKH) and his staff at the Vice President’s Official Residence, Jl. Diponegoro No. 2, Central Jakarta, Monday morning (15/08/2022).

According to the spokesman for Vice President Masduki Baidlowi, the purpose of the audience of BPKH Executive Body and Supervisory Board was to report to the Vice President regarding the implementation of the management of hajj funds for the last 5 years (2017-2022 term of office).

“So next September they will end the term of the assignment. Prior to it, they reported to the Vice President about the hajj fund, which was overall good,” Masduki explained.

In response to the report, continued Masduki, the Vice President also appreciated the performance of the Executive Body and the Supervisory Board of BPKH for this period, because one of them succeeded in obtaining the title of Unqualified Opinion (WTP) from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) for five consecutive years.

“This is also a form of achievement for BPKH,” he said.

But in the future, said Masduki, on this occasion the Vice President asked for more efficient management of the future hajj. This was partly because the Vice President observed that the BPKH subsidy for hajj costs had so far been quite large, reaching 60 percent of the total hajj costs.

“Because the main problem at this time, the cost of subsidized hajj is already very large. Namely that people for Hajj currently pay around 40 million rupiahs, but the total hajj cost is around 100 million rupiahs,” explained Masduki.

According to the Vice President, as stated by Masduki, this will be a problem in the future because the funds for public services determined by the Saudi Arabian government would continue to rise.

“(beside), the Vice President also received a report that the management of the Hajj implementation was already good. So the service is extraordinary, even though the pilgrims have already received change for a kind of provision (during the pilgrimage),” said Masduki.

“Although it does require regulatory changes, the Vice President said this must be done,” he added.
Masduki further explained that people who are obliged to perform Hajj according to religious provisions were people who have the financial ability to pay for their pilgrimage.

“Well, if it is subsidized and the subsidy reaches 60 percent, it is not someone who is strong enough to pay but is strong (because) it is subsidized. That’s what the Vice President is concerned about,” he explained.

However, according to Masduki, on this occasion, the Vice President also appreciated BPKH for managing to provide subsidies for Hajj costs, such as by investing in them.

“The hajj finance has now been invested as much as 71 percent of all (existing) hajj funds. So this is already ideal, even later it will be more. The Vice President’s hope in the future is how to maximize the Hajj investment funds, so that they are invested more for direct investment,” he said.

Regarding this pilgrimage financial investment, said Masduki, the Vice President reminded that BPKH must continue to be prudent in choosing the type and place of investment so as not to be trapped in the Ponzi scheme.

“What is a Ponzi scheme? Dig the hole and cover the hole. This is very dangerous,” said Masduki.

Present at the meeting were Head of the BPKH Executive Body Anggito Abimanyu, Chairman of the BPKH Supervisory Board Yuslam Fauzi, Members of the BPKH Supervisory Board Mohammad Hatta and Suhadi Lestiadi, BPKH Executive Body Members Acep R. Jayaprawira and Rahmat Hidayat, and Head of the Secretariat Division Head of BPKH Hari Yadi.

Meanwhile, the Vice President was accompanied by the Head of the Vice President Secretariat Ahmad Erani Yustika, Special Staff for the Vice President for Communication and Information, Masduki Baidlowi, the Expert Team for the Vice President Iggi Haruman Achsien and Farhat Brachma, and Acting Deputy for Economic Policy Support and Competitiveness Improvement M. Zulkarnain. (DMA/LHS, BPMI Setwapres)