ID :
19781
Tue, 09/16/2008 - 19:36
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/19781
The shortlink copeid
PUBLIC URGED TO GIVE ALMS THROUGH COLLECTING AGENCIES
Jakarta, Sept 16 (ANTARA) - The head of the National Alms Collecting Agency (BAZNAS), Prof Didin Hafidhuddin, appealed to the public here on Tuesday to give alms through existing collecting agencies to avoid a recurrence of the stampede that happened in Pasuruan, East Java, on Monday.
"We are very concerned about the incident that caused the death of at least 21 people. This happened because the donor wanted to extend the alms by himself," he said adding that according to directives in the Koran and several teachings of the Prophet, alms should be distributed through a collecting agency that was trustworthy and professional.
"Alms are not intended to feed people for a day or two but aimed at improving the welfare of the poor in the long term. They are not hand-outs," he said.
He said at present there were already many professional alms collectors that were trustworthy and had received accreditation from the government.
The government through Presidential Decree Number 8 of 2001 had set up BAZNAS to collect and distribute alms, tithes and hand-outs nationally.
Since its establishment, he said, BAZNAS had kept improving itself to become more professional and credible.
He said the agency was always audited by public auditors and for the past five years its financial balance sheets had been assessed favorably. The agency's management was also applying ISO 9001-2000 standards.
"Every year it collects around Rp30 billion. The funds are used for various programs , including education, health, disaster control and economic empowerment efforts," the agency's executive director Emmy Hamidiyah said.
She said other collecting agencies that had received government acreditation so far had also carried out their task well and professinally so that people could extend their alms through them with a peace of mind.
Didin admitted that many people still preferred to extend alms by themselves. However he denied that it had happened because people did not yet trust the existing agencies.
"I do not believe this has happened because people do not believe in the agencies. This has happened because people are just not well-informed so they do not know where to go to give the alms," he said.
Therefore, he said, he planned to intensify dissemination of information about the agencies to increase the people's knowledge about them.
He said dissemination was so far being done through print and electronic media. "It is indeed still limited. We have also been approaching television station operators to ask them to help screen appeals in running text for people to extend alms to collecting agencies," he said.
"We are very concerned about the incident that caused the death of at least 21 people. This happened because the donor wanted to extend the alms by himself," he said adding that according to directives in the Koran and several teachings of the Prophet, alms should be distributed through a collecting agency that was trustworthy and professional.
"Alms are not intended to feed people for a day or two but aimed at improving the welfare of the poor in the long term. They are not hand-outs," he said.
He said at present there were already many professional alms collectors that were trustworthy and had received accreditation from the government.
The government through Presidential Decree Number 8 of 2001 had set up BAZNAS to collect and distribute alms, tithes and hand-outs nationally.
Since its establishment, he said, BAZNAS had kept improving itself to become more professional and credible.
He said the agency was always audited by public auditors and for the past five years its financial balance sheets had been assessed favorably. The agency's management was also applying ISO 9001-2000 standards.
"Every year it collects around Rp30 billion. The funds are used for various programs , including education, health, disaster control and economic empowerment efforts," the agency's executive director Emmy Hamidiyah said.
She said other collecting agencies that had received government acreditation so far had also carried out their task well and professinally so that people could extend their alms through them with a peace of mind.
Didin admitted that many people still preferred to extend alms by themselves. However he denied that it had happened because people did not yet trust the existing agencies.
"I do not believe this has happened because people do not believe in the agencies. This has happened because people are just not well-informed so they do not know where to go to give the alms," he said.
Therefore, he said, he planned to intensify dissemination of information about the agencies to increase the people's knowledge about them.
He said dissemination was so far being done through print and electronic media. "It is indeed still limited. We have also been approaching television station operators to ask them to help screen appeals in running text for people to extend alms to collecting agencies," he said.
