KUALA LUMPUR: The government's decision to cancel the short-lived Integrated Manasik Monitoring System (Imams) on Saturday was not politically-driven, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said on Sunday.
Zahid said that the Cabinet had backed the decision, and as chairman of the Cabinet committee on tourism, he himself had noticed several flaws with the programme.
"The decision (to rescind Imams) was based on complaints, and after chairing the meeting (in which the decision was made), Deputy Tourism and Culture Minister (Datuk Seri Mas Ermiyati Samsudin) had to announce its cancellation," said Zahid.
He said he met with Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz on Sunday morning to discuss options to replace Imams, which would provide reassurance to prospective umrah pilgrims who have been unsettled by cases of unscrupulous agents who manipulated the existing system to cheat pilgrims.
"When you see that the chief executive officer of the programme is someone who has never undertaken the umrah, you know something is wrong somewhere," said Zahid, in reference to a non-Muslim being appointed the head of Imams.
Imam was launched on Friday as a means to curb umrah package fraud, with the ministry warning the 65 agencies offering such packages that action would be taken against them should they fail to comply.
But the announcement was immediately met with a public outcry when it was revealed that overall charges would increase to RM90.10 per pilgrim.
The added cost comprised a RM45 charge for the Imams service, a RM40 comprehensive insurance package, and goods and services tax (GST).
Zahid strongly denied allegations by certain quarters that the entire affair was a political gimmick to gain public support ahead of the general elections.
"The decision to implement Imams was one made by the Cabinet. But some things went amiss in its implementation, so the government acted quickly to call it off," he said.