Zulhas Proposes To Cut Hajj Dams To Be Carried Out In Indonesia, Potential Economy Reaches IDR 1 Trillion

Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Zulkifli Hasan. (Photo: Mery Handayani/VOI)

Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan revealed that the government is reviewing the possibility of paying dams or fines for Hajj pilgrims in Indonesia as the country of origin.

For your information, in the pilgrimage, and is a fine or obligation to pay sacrificial animals for pilgrims who violate the provisions of rituals or choose certain types of worship such as hajj completed and quarantine.

Payment of the fine is currently mandatory in Saudi Arabia.

Zulhas, as Zulkifli Hasan is familiarly called, said that if animal slaughtering for dams is allowed to be carried out in Indonesia, then the economic benefits can be felt directly in the country.

"We are very large, about 200 dollars, not yet fined, that fine may violate, meaning that 200 dollars times 221,000 is, 480 million dollars. Well, if 480 million is almost Rp1 trillion. If you can just cut it here in Arabic," he said at a press conference, at the Coordinating Ministry for Food, Jakarta, Wednesday, December 3.

Zulhas said this discourse still needs to be studied with the scholars and related authorities.

This is because the provisions for cutting dams in Saudi Arabia are part of regulations that must be obeyed.

Furthermore, Zulhas said, several countries have allowed cuts and are carried out in the country of origin of the congregation, but Indonesia still requires cuts to be carried out in Saudi Arabia.

"I will visit the Ulema Council (Indonesian Ulema Council) to ask for a discussion, yes, if necessary, a comparative study to other countries, other countries can cut in the country of origin. We have to cut it in Arab countries," he said.

Zulhas bilang, langkah ini bagian dari upaya pemerintah untuk mengoptimalkan manfaat ekonomi dari penyelenggaraan ibadah haji dan umrah.

Dengan langkah ini, sambung Zulhas, manfaat ekonomi yang sebelumnya berputar di luar negeri, bisa dialihkan ke dalam negeri untuk memperkuat pangan, hingga meningkatkan gizi masyarakat.

“Itu kalau bisa di sini saja, tidak usah potong di Arab, kalau dikasih ke pondok (pondok pesantren), kan gizi langsung naik,” tuturnya.

Zulhas said this step was part of the government's efforts to optimize the economic benefits of organizing the pilgrimage and Umrah.

With this step, continued Zulhas, the economic benefits that had previously been circulating abroad could be diverted to the country to strengthen food, to improve community nutrition.

"If possible, just stay here, don't cut it in Arabic, if you give it to the boarding school (pesantren pondok), nutrition immediately goes up," he said.