Government Targets To Lower Hajj Costs By Pangkas Leaks

Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak and Deputy Attorney General for Intelligence Reda Manthovanani held a meeting at the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, Jakarta, Tuesday (30/9/2025). (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The government is trying to comb through and suppress the potential for budget leakage in the process of procuring goods and services for Hajj, which has been estimated to reach 20 to 30 percent of the total budget of IDR 17 trillion.

Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak said the potential for large leaks was one of the causes of the high cost of organizing the Hajj (BPIH).

Therefore, the government cooperates with the Attorney General's Office to carry out strict supervision of all stages of hajj procurement.

"The President's order is like that. This is still a stage, that's why we really need help from the Attorney General's Office. Earlier Prof. Reda (Jamintel) and the team have stated that they will focus on helping," Dahnil said as quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, September 30.

He explained that the cost structure for organizing the Hajj which reached Rp17 trillion was divided into 10 main procurement processes, with several of the largest budget items coming from air transportation, sharia services, catering, and congregational accommodation in Saudi Arabia.

Dahnil explained that in the 10 stages of the hajj procurement process, the potential for leakage is estimated to reach IDR 5 trillion per year. Therefore, surveillance efforts are expected to provide significant budget efficiency.

"Of the 17 trillion total costs of organizing Hajj to dispatch 203,000 people, leakage of 20 to 30 percent means almost IDR 5 trillion. That's what we want to suppress as much as possible, if possible there will be zero leaks," he said.

Dahnil mentioned one example of the efficiency that has been successfully carried out is on sharia services. Last year, the cost of sharia services per person reached 2,300 riyals. However, this year, after going through an open auction process, the cost was successfully reduced to 2,100 riyals.

"This sharia cost cut has saved nearly Rp180 billion. It is without extortion, without manipulation. This is a concrete example that efficiency can be done if governance is improved," he said.

According to Dahnil, with the decline in leakage in procurement, the government can more easily reduce BPIH, although financially the challenge remains large because of the fluctuation in the rupiah exchange rate against the dollar.

"In terms of finance, suppressing BPIH is difficult because the dollar goes up. This year our benchmark is already Rp. 16,500, while last year it was still Rp. 16,000. But if the leak can be suppressed, efforts to reduce BPIH will be much more realistic," he said.

He emphasized that the main focus of the current government is to fix the governance of the hajj, especially in terms of transparency in procurement. Therefore, the involvement of the Attorney General's Office is needed to oversee the reform process.

"We want to make sure BPIH is down, according to the President's direction. And that's where we ask for the active role of the Attorney General's Office," he said.