Visit The Vice President, BPKH Management Reports Hajj Fund Management For The Last 5 Years

JAKARTA - Vice President (Wapres) Ma'ruf Amin received an audience with the Head of the Implementing Agency and the Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Hajj Financial Management Agency (BPKH) and his staff at the Vice President's official residence, Jakarta, Monday 15 August.

According to the Spokesperson for the Vice President Masduki Baidlowi, the arrival of the BPKH officials was to report to the Vice President regarding the implementation of the management of hajj funds for the last 5 years, the 2017-2022 term of office.

"So next September they will end their positions. Earlier, they explained to the Vice President about the hajj finances, which was overall good," Masduki said in a press release, quoted from Antara, Monday 15 August.

He explained that the Vice President appreciated the performance of the Implementing Body and the BPKH Supervisory Board for the 2017-2022 period, because one of them succeeded in obtaining the title of Unqualified Opinion (WTP) from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) for five consecutive years.

However, the vice president asked that the management of the future hajj organization be more efficient, because the vice president saw that the BPKH subsidy for the hajj costs so far is quite large, reaching 60 percent of the total hajj costs.

“Because of the main problem at the moment, the subsidized hajj costs are already very large. Namely that people for Hajj currently pay around Rp. 40 million, but the total cost of hajj is around Rp. 100 million,” he added.

According to the vice president, this will be a problem in the future because the funds for public services determined by the Saudi Arabian government will continue to rise.

He explained that people who are obliged to perform Hajj according to religious provisions are people who have the financial ability to pay for Hajj.

"Well, if it is subsidized and the subsidy reaches 60 percent, it is not someone who is strong enough to pay but is strong (because) it is subsidized. That's what the vice president is concerned about," he said.

However, he said, the Vice President appreciated BPKH for continuing to be able to provide subsidies for hajj costs because they managed to manage hajj funds well, such as by investing them.

The vice president reminded that BPKH must continue to be careful in choosing the type and place of investment so as not to be trapped in the ponzi scheme.

“What is a ponzi scheme? Dig the hole cover the hole. This is very dangerous,” said Masduki.

Present at this hearing were Head of the BPKH Implementing Body Anggito Abimanyu, Chairman of the BPKH Supervisory Board Yuslam Fauzi, Members of the BPKH Supervisory Board Mohammad Hatta and Suhadi Lestiadi, Members of the BPKH Implementing Body Acep R. Jayaprawira and Rahmat Hidayat, and Head of the Secretariat Division Head of BPKH Hari Yadi.

Meanwhile, the Vice President was accompanied by the Head of the Vice Presidential Secretariat Ahmad Erani Yustika, Special Staff for the Vice President for Communication and Information, Masduki Baidlowi, the Expert Team for the Vice President Iggi Haruman Achsien and Farhat Brachma, and Plt. Deputy for Economic Policy Support and Competitiveness Improvement M. Zulkarnain.