53 Red and White Cooperatives in Madiun Regency Begin Operations

Madiun (ANTARA) - A total of 53 out of 206 Koperasi Desa/Kelurahan Merah Putih (Red and White Village/Sub-district Cooperatives) in Madiun Regency, East Java, have begun operating and running business activities following their simultaneous national inauguration by President RI Prabowo Subianto. “In Madiun Regency there are 198 villages and 8 sub-districts, so 206 KDKMP have been formed with legal entity status, or 100 percent. Of that total, 53 KDKMP have started business activities,” said Citra Noviyanto, Head of the Cooperatives Division at the Madiun Regency Trade, Cooperatives, and Micro Enterprises Office (Disperdagkop-UM), on Wednesday. He further explained that of the 53 KDKMP that have started operations, 25 are developments of existing cooperatives, such as Women’s Cooperatives. However, despite being operational, these 53 KDKMP units have not yet occupied the permanent Red and White cooperative outlets or physical buildings constructed through the government programme. This is because they are still awaiting the asset handover process from the Ministry of Cooperatives. According to Citra, the permanent outlets can only be utilised after the asset handover from the Ministry of Cooperatives to the village or regional government. “To date, there has been no handover. Once the assets are handed over to the village government for KDKMP and to the regional government for sub-districts, then the outlets can be used for operations,” he said. While waiting for this process, the dozens of active KDKMP are conducting business using village or sub-district government facilities as temporary offices. “Some are using a room in the village hall or sub-district office. So, they are temporarily utilising existing government buildings,” he added. Regarding the ongoing physical construction of several outlets, Disperdagkop-UM admitted it does not yet know the completion target, as the entire schedule is determined by the central government. Nevertheless, coordination with the central government, the East Java Provincial Government, and the implementing contractors continues to ensure the programme runs smoothly. Citra noted that the majority of the KDKMP that have started operations are engaged in real-sector businesses, not savings and loans. These include basic foodstuff shops, fertiliser kiosks, daily necessities and LPG shops, among others. “We encourage cooperatives to develop real-sector businesses because their turnover is faster and they have greater development potential compared to savings and loan activities,” he said.