New special agency will manage haj funds

Jakarta, NU Online
Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifudin has said that the government will establish a new agency specifically for managing haj funds.<>

On Thursday, Lukman said that the new agency would reduce the burden on the directorate-general of haj and umrah (minor pilgrimage), which has so far been managing both the haj and umrah funds, as reported by kompas.com.

"We can see that it is too much work for one agency. This is why we will discuss the establishment of a special agency for better management in the haj financial management bill (RUU PKH)," he told a meeting of Commission VIII of the House of Representatives in Jakarta.

According to Lukman, the bill was initiated by the government in order to avoid a conflict of interest in the management agency. The bill stipulates that the new haj fund agency will have the authority to manage the haj fund deposits so that they will not only benefit the organizers but the pilgrims too.

The new agency will also have the authority to conduct profit-oriented activities from the funds accumulated.

"We will also discuss the composition, human resources and the mechanisms between the two agencies later," he said.

Lukman, who is also the United Development Party (PPP) deputy chairman, replaced predecessor Suryadharma Ali, who resigned from the position after being named a suspect in a graft case by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

The KPK has named Suryadharma a suspect in a case concerning the 2012-2013 haj management at the ministry.

Editing by Sudarto Murtaufiq