Jakarta. A government official recently said that Indonesia did not need to rush to establish a standalone hajj ministry, saying that its establishment is “no urgent matter”.

A House of Representatives member Said Abdullah proposed the idea of establishing a standalone hajj ministry to tackle problems related to the annual major pilgrimage.

Waristo, a deputy at the Coordinating Ministry for Cultural Affairs, responded to this proposal. 

According to Warsito, the Religious Affairs Ministry is not the only one who bears the responsibility of dealing with hajj matters. Indonesia has been managing the Hajj pilgrimage in a “cross-ministerial” manner. 

For instance, the transportation and foreign affairs ministries, also take part in making sure that Indonesian pilgrims can perform hajj. The same goes for the health and human rights ministries, as the latter is in charge of immigration documents. Indonesia also already has the Hajj Fund Management Agency (BPKH). 

“So what we really need is to improve the coordination [between those agencies]. We also need to have more ministries and government agencies take part so we can improve our hajj services. The Coordinating Cultural Affairs Ministry can coordinate the ministries and government agencies,” Warsito said.

However, it is up to President-Elect Prabowo Subianto to decide whether Indonesia should have a standalone hajj ministry, according to Warsito. 

The Religious Affairs Ministry today serves as the regulator that determines the policies related to the annual religious pilgrimage. The ministry is also in charge of the practical aspects, including accommodation, catering, and the hajj costs with the House’s approval. 

The 2014 law states that BPKH should manage the Hajj funds independently and professionally. Warsito said that BPKH’s role was to support the Religious Affairs in managing hajj while denying claims that the existence of the two bodies creates dualism. 

Earlier this week, hajj analyst Ade Marfudin said that there had been a dualism in Indonesia’s hajj management, which he attributed to the existence of the Religious Affairs Ministry and BPKH. He claimed that this had led to disorganized hajj management as both bodies were not coordinating with one another enough.