Vice President Ma'ruf Amin: Maintaining Harmony Is Not Easy And Not Cheap

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin and North Sulawesi Governor Olly Dondokambey (ANATARA)

MANADO - Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf Amin said maintaining inter-religious harmony is an effort that is neither easy nor cheap to do. As a result, local governments must strengthen the role and function of the Religious Harmony Forum (FKUB).

This was conveyed by the Vice President directly to the Governor of North Sulawesi, Olly Dondokambey when opening the International Harmony Week and the VI FKUB National Conference in North Sulawesi, Friday, November 19.

“Mr Governor, we have to protect this FKUB, we have to protect it. the government is determined to continue to strengthen and I know that FKUB maintaining harmony is neither easy nor cheap. It's not easy, it means it's quite heavy," said the vice president as quoted by Antara.

Because it is not easy, to maintain inter-religious harmony requires cooperation from all parties, including local governments and community organizations (ormas) to strengthen FKUB.

Meanwhile, related to the low cost, the Vice President asked all local governments to provide sufficient budget for FKUB activities.

“Therefore, I propose that all local governments have sufficient budget to finance FKUB, because it is neither easy nor cheap. Because harmony is very expensive," he said.

Maintaining harmony in the regions is an important task for FKUB to realize the stability of national harmony involving inter-religious people as the main element. Therefore, Vice President Ma'ruf appreciates the performance of FKUB which is not only tasked with maintaining inter-religious harmony, but is involved in resolving political conflicts in society.

"I heard that FKUB has a very big role, not only being able to resolve the possibility of religious disputes, but in some areas being able to resolve conflicts or regional election disputes, where FKUB is able to resolve hostilities," said the Vice President.

Meanwhile, Governor Olly Dondokambey said the North Sulawesi Provincial Government always prioritizes the aspects of harmony in regional development.

"The North Sulawesi Provincial Government is aware of and always prioritizes aspects of harmony in accompanying regional development and progress," he said.

FKUB has played a role in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic in North Sulawesi so far, the number of active cases in the area has decreased, he explained.

"Thanks to the support of all parties, FKUB and religious leaders, the pandemic condition in North Sulawesi is getting better day by day. The steep decline in active cases continues, until now there are only 40 active cases that are still being treated,” said Olly.