The Cost Of Hajj 2023 Increases For Reasons Of Beneficiary Value, Legislators Of PAN Questions BPKH Performance

Illustration of the pilgrimage at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic wascamated. (Antarananews)

JAKARTA - The chairman of the PAN faction of the DPR RI, Saleh Partaonan Daulay, questioned the performance and contribution of the Hajj Financial Management Agency (BPKH) regarding the increase in the cost of Hajj in 2023 which doubled to reach Rp69 million per congregation. This is because the increase in the cost of Hajj this year cannot be separated from the reasons for continuity and justice in the use of value benefits managed by BPKH. "He said, if the value of the benefits continues to be used, the funds will be quickly eroded to pay for the pilgrims who depart this year and in the next few years. As a result, it is unfair for the next congregation to pay 100 percent. related to this, we deserve to question the performance and contribution of BPKH in managing Hajj finances," Saleh told reporters, Wednesday, January 25. Saleh assessed that BPKH should not only calculate expenses but also income. If the management of the congregation's funds is correct, according to him, the value of benefits should increase quickly and increase as well. If the value of the benefits increases and increases, he said, then the problem of sustainability and justice does not need to be questioned. "To be honest, I have not seen BPKH's achievements in increasing the value of the benefits of hajj funds. The comparison of the previous years' Hajj costs submitted to the public seems only as a rhetoric statement to justify the increase in Bipih (hajj travel costs)," said the former chairman of Commission VIII of the DPR in partnership with the Ministry of Religion. The PAN legislator for the North Sumatra electoral district said that if you want to be careful, the presence of BPKH would actually erode the value of the financial benefits of Hajj. Because the operational costs and salaries of BPKH are taken from the value of benefits. Before there was a BPKH, said Saleh, there were no operational costs and salaries with a fairly large value. "Publics and prospective pilgrims must know that BPKH's operational costs according to PP Number 5 of 2018 are a maximum of 5 percent of the previous year's benefit value. For 2023, the amount has been set at IDR 386.9 billion. If divided into 203,320 prospective pilgrims, it is the same as IDR 1.9 million per congregation," said Saleh. "This is extraordinary. Congregations must contribute Rp1.9 million to manage their funds. Meanwhile, BPKH's performance to increase the value of benefits is not significant. Now in fact, BPKH has also spoken out so that there is an increase in the cost of Hajj. This is very ironic and tends to be unfair," he continued. The member of Commission IX of the DPR reminded that regular Hajj pilgrims are pilgrims whose economic abilities are middle to lower. Covering farmers, fishermen, laborers, honorariums, traders, and others. Just to go for Hajj, he added, they have been saving for years. Not to mention having to wait in line for decades. Therefore, Saleh regretted that the pilgrims had to spend extra money to go for Hajj this year just because it was for the sake of continuing the value of benefits managed by BPKB. "Well, if you are asked to pay Bipih (hajj post) in the amount of Rp. 69 million, is that fair? Isn't it true that the congregation in previous years also used the value of the benefits of their savings?," he concluded. Previously, the Head of BPKH Fadlul Imansyah said, the value of the benefits of the pilgrims' hajj funds would run out before 2027 if it was distributed predominantly to pilgrims departing in the current year. In 2022, the value of benefits distributed by BPKH for pilgrims departing will reach 59 percent, while Bipih or the cost of Hajj trips borne by pilgrims is IDR 39.8 million or 41 percent. Meanwhile, this year, based on the Ministry of Religion's proposal, the portion of the value of benefits was reduced to 30 percent, amounting to Rp29,700,175 from the total cost of organizing the Hajj (BPIH) of Rp98,893,909. Meanwhile, the Bipiah charged to the congregation for this year reached Rp. 69,193,733, an increase of Rp. 30 million per congregation from Rp. 39.8 million in 2022. The amount of costs charged to prospective pilgrims reached 70 percent of the total BPIH. "If we distribute it to people who leave every year, it will run out, until before 2027 it has run out. This means that we will erode the principal of the funds managed by all the initial deposits of prospective pilgrims who have not left. Is that what we want?" said Fadlul at a press conference in Central Jakarta, Tuesday, January 24.