Denies Hajj Funds For IKN In East Kalimantan, Ministry Of Religion: It's Hoax, Slander!

Illustration of the Hajj in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Between)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) denies the issue of the government using the Hajj funds to finance the National Capital (IKN) of the Archipelago in East Kalimantan (Kaltim). The Ministry of Religion confirmed that this information was not true.

The rebuttal emerged after the viral screenshot of news originating from online media, with the title narrating the Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas asking the public to give up hajj funds for IKN.

"This is slanderous and misleading. The narrative of the Minister of Religion asking for hajj funds for IKN is a hoax," said Head of the Ministry of Religion's Public Relations, Data and Information Bureau, Ahmad Fauzin in Jakarta, Sunday, May 8.

According to Fauzi, the Minister of Religion of Yaqut has never issued a statement regarding the use of outside Hajj funds for the purpose of organizing the Hajj. Because he said it was not the Minister of Religion's authority.

"Since 2018, the Ministry of Religion is no longer the party responsible for the management of hajj funds," explained Fauzin.

Fauzin explained that Law Number 34 of 2014 concerning Hajj Financial Management which was issued at the end of the reign of President Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) mandated that Hajj funds be managed by the Hajj Financial Management Agency (BPKH). For this reason, the BPKH was formed and gradually the authority to manage hajj funds was handed over to the BPKH in accordance with the mandate of Law 34/2014.

Then on February 13 2018, continued Fauzin, President Joko Widodo had signed Government Regulation Number 5 of 2018. This regulation regulates the implementation of Law Number 34 of 2014 concerning Hajj Financial Management.

Since then, said Fauzin, the hajj funds have been fully transferred to BPKH. "As of February 2018, hajj funds, which at that time amounted to Rp. 103 trillion, had all become the authority of BPKH," explained Fauzin.

The Ministry of Religion, added Fauzin, no longer has the main tasks and functions to manage, let alone develop Hajj funds in any form. "I think people are getting smarter, they can already know that this kind of information or news is untrue and slanderous," he said. Fauzin emphasized that his party is considering taking legal steps regarding the slander. "For those who spread this hoax and slander, we will consider taking legal steps," said Fauzin.