YTH: Kementrian Pembuat Kitab Suci Kok Korup

Nothing sacred in Indonesian graft By Gary LaMoshi asia times DENPASAR, Bali - A new corruption scandal has shown that Indonesia's crooked politicians and government officials have no sacred cows - or books. A member of the House of Representatives and his son stand accused of corruption in connection with the government's 55 billion rupiah (US$5.9 million) program to print copies of the Koran, Islam's holy book. But for the nation with the world's largest Muslim population, the scandal could prove a blessing in disguise. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has accused House of Representatives budget committee member Zulkarnaen Djabar of receiving 4 billion rupiah in bribes on Religious Affairs Ministry projects, including Koran printing and supplying computer equipment for Islamic schools. Media reports say each copy of the Koran wound up costing the government 1 million rupiah , or more than US$100. Djabar, a member of the powerful Golkar Party, allegedly steered contracts toward his son's company. Other contract winners reportedly had links to powerful politicians and groups, including the deposed treasurer of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party Muhammad Nazaruddin who is already facing a raft of corruption allegations. Clean government groups, meanwhile, caution that embezzled funds from the government's Koran program may have ended up in political party coffers. Other members of the committee overseeing the Religious Affairs Ministry budget each received more than 500 copies of the government produced Koran. The lawmakers denied that accepting the Korans constituted bribery. Instead they said they took the holy books for distribution to constituents as part of their public service. Double dip Despite the KPK's investigation, alleged misappropriation of funds and scant details on the program's true costs, the budget committee dutifully doubled the Religious Affairs Ministry's Koran procurement budget to 110 billion rupiah. Democratic Party budget committee member Muhammad Bogowi told the Jakarta Post newspaper, "We … agreed to the proposal because we felt that morality in society had deteriorated rapidly." A two-fold budget increase to improve morality via an apparently corrupt program could make sense only to Indonesia's venal public servants. The budget for Koran printing and distribution in 2010, before the alleged fraud began, was 4 billion rupiah. Amid public outrage, Djabar has denied the charges. He said the accusations were a warning from God that he is too involved with earthly matters and needs to become more spiritual. That goes double for the Ministry of Religious Affairs, long cited as a nexus of official graft. Last year KPK named Religious Affairs as Indonesia's most corrupt government agency. That's no mean feat given the tax department's lengthy roster of officials convicted of wrongdoing. Former Religious Affairs Minister Said Agril al-Munawar had already been imprisoned on embezzlement charges. Pilgrims' profits The Religious Affairs Ministry's corruption problem is linked to one of the pillars of Islam, the hajj, the ritual pilgrimage to Mecca. The hajj is a commandment for each of Indonesia's nearly 200 million Muslims who have sufficient health and means for the trip. The ministry administers the pilgrimage, this year collecting 35 million rupiah from each aspiring hajji. At present, the ministry holds more than 40 trillion rupiah from 1.4 million Indonesians. Saudi Arabia grants Indonesia an annual quota of 211,000 pilgrims, so the current waiting time for Indonesians to visit Mecca is six years. Meanwhile the ministry, not the depositors, collects interest on the hajj funds, amounting to an estimated 1.7 trillion rupiah a year, or more than $180 million at the current exchange rate. Investigators say the ministry routinely uses funds to pay for government officials to make the hajj, with plenty left for other abuses. But misusing other people's money isn't the worst of the Religious Affairs Ministry's sins, say critics. Rather than protecting the freedom of worship and belief inscribed in Indonesia's constitution, the ministry has often become an advocate and enabler of intolerance. Aid and discomfort In 2008, the ministry designated Muslim splinter group Ahmadiya as a heretic sect. That decree, issued at behest of Islamist hardliners, has given political cover to extremist violence against Ahmadiyah followers. The worst attack, in January last year in Cikeusik, West Java, saw a mob of 1,000 fanatics bludgeon three Ahmadis to death. Courts convicted several assailants of minor offenses as well as sentencing one of the 20 Ahmadis attacked to six months in jail for his unarmed defense against the attackers. Days after the Ahmadi killings, a mob burned two churches and attacked a third in Temanngung, Central Java. A court had just convicted a Christian man to five years in prison for distributing pamphlets that prosecutors claimed insulted Islam. However, the crowd thought the sentence - a year longer than Tommy Suharto served for masterminding the murder of the judge who sentenced him to jail - was too lenient. For years, Christian congregations in Bekasi and Bogor in West Java have been subjected to a combination of hard-line Muslim protests and government discrimination. Both groups have been barred by local authorities from building churches despite court orders to permit construction. Muslim extremists have hounded worshippers when they've tried to hold services on the putative church sites or alternative locations. Congregants have even taken Sunday prayers to Istana Merdeka, the Presidential Palace, to bring attention to their plight. So where's the Religious Affairs minister in all this sectarian strife? Habitually on the side of the extremists and against the constitution. Loathe thy neighbor After a Shi'ite village on Madura Island off East Java came under attack from a majority Sunni mob in December, mainstream religious leaders scrupulously avoided inflammatory language. But Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali labeled Shi'ites as heretics amid the volatile violence. When vigilantes firebombed an Ahmadiyah mosque in West Java in April, Suryadharma failed to condemn the attack. Instead, he warned Ahmadis "must abandon their deviant beliefs" and obey the law. Suryadharma, also chairman of the Muslim-based United Development Party, one of the Suharto-era's three sanctioned political parties, has also suggested banning skirts above the knee, an idea that fits with sharia law style local regulations on dress sprouting around the country. Last month he applauded the cancellation of Lady Gaga's sold out concert in Jakarta after hard-line Muslim groups threatened violence against the singer and the audience. The Religious Affairs Ministry's Koran scandal will ideally end its run as the Islamist Protection Agency, and get it back to its real mission of protecting freedom of worship. Or it may lead the outraged public to ask why the world's third-largest democracy needs to have the government actively involved in religion at all. Gary LaMoshi is long-time editor of award-winning investor rights advocate eRaider.com, has written for Slate and Salon.com, and works an adviser to Writing Camp (www.writingcamp.net). He first visited Indonesia in 1994 and has been watching ever since. Korupsi Pengadaan Al Quran Mengiris Hati Oleh: Herdi Sahrasad nasional - Sabtu, 23 Juni 2012 | 17:06 WIB INILAH.COM, Jakarta - Agama mengajarkan umat tidak melakukan korupsi. Namun temuan Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (KPK), di Kementrian Agama masih terjadi korupsi apalagi menyangkut pengadaan Al-Qur’an. Krisis akhlak dan moral sudah parah dan menakutkan. KPK sempat kaget dengan temuannya. KPK terkejut, bagaimana mungkin di sebuah institusi yang mempunyai lambang Al Quran, para aparat dan pejabatnya melakukan korupsi pengadaan kitab suci. Beberapa tahun lalu, juga pernah terjadi korupsi dana abadi ‘haji’ di Depag dan pelakunya juga dipenjara. Depag akibatnya dianggap lekat dengan korupsi yang kronis. Kementerian Agama menyebutkan, anggaran pengadaan Al Quran sangat minim. Anggaran per tahunnya adalah Rp130 miliar, sedangkan kebutuhan per tahunnya adalah 2 juta eksemplar. Pada 2009, pengadaan 42.600 eksemplar Al Quran ditenderkan dengan nilai Rp1,156 miliar. Sedangkan pengadaan 45 ribu eksemplar pada 2010 ditender dengan nilai Rp1,4 miliar. Pada 2011, ada pengadaan 67.600 eksemplar Al Quran dengan nilai Rp5,604 miliar. Kemudian ada APBNP untuk pengadaan 660 ribu eksemplar dengan nilai Rp22,8 miliar. Dari nilai itu ada efisiensi anggaran Rp1,8 miliar. Nah, nilai efisiensi itu digunakan untuk kembali mendata Al Quran sebanyak 17 ribuan. "Memang anggarannya terbatas, Rp130 miliar per tahun. Untuk kebutuhan Al Quran per tahunnya yakni sebanyak 2 juta eksemplar. Sampai saat ini secara normatif atau di atas kertas tidak menemukan penyimpangan," ujar Wakil Menteri Agama Nasaruddin Umar. Nasaruddin merasa terpukul dengan kasus korupsi ini. Sebagai Dirjen di Depag waktu itu, dia tidak mengurusi soal pengadaan. Para pejabat pembuat komitmen setingkat direkturlah selaku penanggung jawab pengadaan. Sedangkan pelaksana pengadaan dilakukan pejabat eselon III. Nilai pengadaan saat itu ditaksir sekitar Rp5,6 miliar yang dikucurkan Inspektorat Jenderal Kemenag. Plt Deputi Penindakan KPK, KMS Rony menyebut tindak pidana korupsi yang ada di Indonesia sudah menggurita di mana-mana. Salah satunya di institusi pemerintah yang mengurusi mengenai keagamaan yaitu Kementerian Agama. Memang, masalah korupsi tergantung personil dan peluangnya. Tidak hanya di DPR tetapi juga di Kementerian Agama apalagi yang diduga dikorupsi adalah pengadaan Al-Quran. Pegawai Kementrian Agama yang semula diharapkan menjadi teladan ummat malah ikut melakukan korupsi. “Saya ikut prihatin dengan kejadian ini. Padahal, sewaktu saya menjabat sebagai Dirjen Bimbingan Masyarakat Islam, masalah yang selalu saya wanti-wanti adalah terkait dengan pengadaan Al-Qur’an. Sebab Al-Qur’an ini sesuatu yang sangat suci, bahkan saya tahu persis dampak dari memainkan pengadaan Al-Qur’an. Jangankan korupsi, mencari keuntungan dari pengadaan Al-Qur’an saja saya selalu mengimbau kepada pelaksananya jangan!,” papar Wamenag. Pihak terkait harus bersedia membuka secara blak-blakan kasus korupsi ini, agar tidak terulang kembali. Alangkah aibnya semua ini. [berbagai sumber] Kamis, 21 Juni 2012 | 07:49 WIB KPK: Proyek Kitab Suci Saja Dikorupsi... TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Ketua Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi Abraham Samad membenarkan lembaganya saat ini tengah menyelidiki dugaan tindak pidana korupsi dalam pengadaan kitab suci Al-Quran di Kementerian Agama. "Tak lama lagi akan naik ke penyidikan," kata Abraham di sela rapat dengar pendapat umum dengan Komisi Hukum di kompleks parlemen, Senayan, Rabu 20 Juni 2012. Abraham mengungkapkan, pengadaan Al-Quran itu terjadi di Direktorat Jenderal Pendidikan Agama Islam Kementerian Agama. KPK sudah melakukan satu kali ekspose untuk kasus ini. Namun, dia mengaku lupa detail nilai kerugian negara dan siapa yang melaporkan perkara ini. Penyidikan kasus korupsi ini, menurut Deputi Penindakan KPK KMS Romi, merupakan bukti bahwa praktek korupsi di Indonesia sangat mengenaskan. Korupsi kini juga terjadi di lembaga yang seharusnya menerapkan nilai yang baik, termasuk nilai-nilai keagamaan. "Kitab suci saja dikorupsi, betapa membuat sedih," kata Romi dalam diskusi di Jakarta, Rabu 20 Juni 2012. "Korupsi tak hanya di lingkungan birokrasi dan Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat RI atau pada proyek-proyek besar negara." Menurut Romi, praktek korupsi tidak terikat pada lembaga atau instansi tertentu saja. Masalah korupsi lebih personal dari anggota dan peluang yang ada. Salah satunya adalah kasus pengadaan kitab suci yang justru terjadi, menurut Romi, di departemen yang pegawainya memakai lambang Al Qur''an di bajunya. "Kasus korupsi, jangan lihat lembaganya, tapi personelnya," kata Romi. Romi menolak mengungkapkan pelaku dalam kasus ini. Alasannya, "Agar strategi penyelidikan bisa lebih lanjut," katanya. Penyidik saat ini masih menyelidiki modus korupsi yang dilakukan. Apakah termasuk perbuatan melawan hukum berkaitan dengan penyuapan atau penyalahgunaan kewenangan. IRA GUSLINA SUFA | RAFIKA AULIA | FRANSISCO ROSARIANS | WANTO