Meeting Mahfud MD, PGI Asked The Minister For SKB 2 On The Construction Of Houses Of Worship To Be Revised

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Church Fellowship (PGI) met with the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud MD. They asked the government to revise the Joint Ministerial Certificate (SKB) regarding the construction of places of worship.

The reason is that the regulation issued in 2006 has been interpreted differently by many parties, making it difficult to build houses of worship.

"That is the 2006 joint ministerial regulation. The point is to actually facilitate. Facilitating religious communities is not to limit. Now, what is happening now is that the community interprets it and uses it to limit it. Within this framework we are asking for revision," said PGI Chairman Gomar Gultom to reporters after the meeting. at the Kemenkopolhukam Office, Central Jakarta, Thursday, February 13.

Gomar emphasized that the Forum for Religious Harmony (FKUB) which is also regulated in the SKB of the two ministers should also be revised.

"FKUB is very proportional in the old regulations. We demand that the word proportional not be used because with proportional voting is what happens, not deliberation. It removes the spirit of our nation for deliberation," he said.

He also assessed that FKUB should not be the determinant in granting permits to build houses of worship. Because, Gomar assessed, the government should grant the permit and not involve civilians such as FKUB.

"If you want to mention a recommendation, it must be a recommendation from the Ministry of Religion, for example, regional offices (regional offices) or kandep (departmental offices) because they are vertical from the state. FKUB is a civil society, very easy to ride and easy to abuse," he said.

Meanwhile, Mahfud MD denied that his meeting with PGI discussed the SKB of the two ministers.

"We are not talking about the SKB. Talking about cases, cases that were fussed over on social media, where it was, in Karimun," Mahfud told reporters.

The case referred to by Mahfud is the polemic of the construction of the Catholic Church of Santo Joseph Tanjung Balai, Karimun, Riau Islands. This case was busy on social media some time ago. It is known that the polemic for the construction of the church had actually occurred since 2013.

Later, a mass action also occurred when the first stone was laid for the renovation of the church on October 25, 2019. As a result, the construction of the church had to be stopped because the issuance of the building permit was being sued by a group of local residents.

For the case in Karimun, Mahfud said the polemic for the construction of a house of worship had been completed. This is because so far there has been an agreement between the church and other parties, such as the regional government and the local Muslim community forum.

"Anyway, they have come to the office of the Minister of Religion on the 12th and they have agreed to maintain the conduciveness of the region while waiting for the verdict of the state administrative court," he said.

"There, everyone agrees to return to law and law is the court. I see," added the former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK).

For information, the government has regulated the procedures for the construction of places of worship through the Joint Regulation of the Minister of Religion and the Minister of Home Affairs No. 9 of 2006 and No. 8 of 2006 concerning Guidelines for Implementing the Duties of Regional Heads / Deputy Regional Heads in Maintaining Religious Harmony, Empowering the Forum for Religious Harmony. , and the construction of houses of worship.

In this regulation, every construction of a house of worship must fulfill the administrative and technical requirements of the building.

Not only that, there are also special requirements that must be fulfilled, namely a list of names and identity cards for users of houses of worship of at least 90 people which are legalized by local officials in accordance with the level of regional boundaries. Also, the support of the local community is at least 60 people who are endorsed by the village head or village head. Then, there is a written recommendation from the head of the district / city religious affairs department head, and a written recommendation from the district / city Religious Harmony Forum.