GOVT EXPECTED TO DECIDE HAJJ COST NEXT WEEK

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 16 (ANTARA) - The government and the House of Representatives (DPR) failed on Friday to agree on the amount of the hajj pilgrimage cost (BPIH) a would-be pilgrim has to pay for his/her hajj tour of the Holy Land this year.          At a consultative meeting on Friday, the government came up with a proposal to cut its previously proposed amount of US$3,577 by 36 dollars while the House Commission VIII on religious affairs asked the government to reduce it by US$119.          "In our calculation, the BPIH still could be reduced by up to 119 US dollars," Muhammad Baghowi, a House Commission VIII member, said after the consultative meeting on Friday.          In the meantime, the government considered that a reduction by US$36 in the hajj pilgrimage cost (BPIH) for 2010 was already enough. "The government cannot go lower than that," Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali said on the sidelines of the consultative meeting with the House of Representatives? Commission VIII.          He said that if the cut was set lower than that it would force the government to pay many components whose costs should actually be paid by the pilgrims. In reality, the cost of a number of hajj components has increased, particularly that for their boarding facilities.          The government is doing its best to improve the quality of the Indonesian hajj boarding facilities, including their distance from the Haram Mosque. In 2009, only about 28 percent of the Indonesian hajj pilgrims stayed in the boarding houses within Ring I, but this year the government did its best to increase the percentage to 68 percent. Ring I has its farthest border 4 km from the Haram Mosque.          Last year, a total of 209.819 Indonesians made the  hajj pilgrimage to the Holy Land.          The minister said that the improvement of the boarding quality had increased pilgrimage cost. The government has set the boarding cost at US$3,000 but actually the real cost for it is US$3,100, the minister added.          However, the minister said on Saturday that the previously proposed BPIH which was set at US43,577 for each pilgrim could just be cut by more than US$100 if the government and the House Commission VIII agreed to it next week.          He said that the cut by that amount could be approved by both the government and the House but it would reduce the hajj optimizing funds and would cause next year's BPIH to be raised.          Muhammad Baghowi said that the government had proposed a cut of US$36 while Commission VIII saw that the proposed US$3,577 still could be cut by US$119.          The government had explained that last year's BPIH for each would-be hajj pilgrim embarking from Jakarta, for example, was set at US$3,444.          So, it proposed a cut of US39 for the Jakarta embarkation BPIH so that this year it would amount to US$3,405. On the other hand, the BPHIs for pilgrims departing from other embarkation points were proposed to be cut by an average of US$36.          "The amount of BPIH the government was proposing was based on the assumption that the cost for boarding houses for each pilgrims was US$3,000," Baghowi said.          In the meantime Baghowi said, Commission VIII's assumption based on the calculation that of the US$3,000 boarding facility cost, US$2,700 would be paid by hajj pilgrims and US$300 with a subsidy using the hajj optimizing funds.         He said that the amount of the subsidy would vary much depend on the location of the boarding houses in Mecca from Ring I to Ring III areas (Ring I's farthest border is 4 km from the Haram Mosque while Ring III's farthest section is seven km from the mosque).          "With the boarding cost subsidy amounting to Rp1 trillion, the use of hajj optimizing funds would still be in surplus," Muhammad Baghowi said.          The hajj optimizing funds are funds collected from the interest of would-be hajj pilgrims' preliminary payments which now has amounted to Rp1,172 billion.          Because the government and Commission VIII failed to agree a certain amount for the BPIH on Friday, Commission VIII Chairman Abdul Kadir Karding adjourned the consultative meeting to Tuesday next week (July 20, 2010).          Commission VIII last month urged the Ministry of Religious Affairs to cut the 2010 hajj pilgrimage cost.        "We hope the ministry will agree to our proposal which we are going to discuss in a hearing," Commission VIII chairman Radityo Gambiro said.          He said so far hajj pilgrims had been paying high fees to travel to Mecca and back but how the money was actually used and for what benefits had remained unclear. All kinds of cost are being borne by pilgrims whereas there are actually components which should be borne by the state.          "We can understand  if the government says it has not enough funds for that but it would also be illogical if all of the hajj cost components are borne by hajj pilgrims. We hope that hajj pilgrimage cost be partly borne by the government," he said.          Gambiro said that there were at least 27 cost components that needed to be improved by the Ministry of Religious Affairs so that the burden of pilgrims could be reduced.           In response to the BPIH problem, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono this week called on the relevant ministers and officials to prepare and smooth the hajj pilgrimage program.          "I learned from the media that there are differences of views between the government and Parliament. Therefore the related ministers should be proactive and work together for the people," the president said.          "The success of the hajj pilgrimage is our priority. If there is a problem, I expect officers in the field to act quickly," the president told a cabinet minister's meeting. (T.A014/A/HAJM/17:10/a014)17-07-2010 17:16:3