53 Red and White Cooperatives in Madiun Regency Begin Operations
Madiun (ANTARA) — Fifty-three of the 206 Red-and-White Village/Urban Ward Cooperatives (KDKMP) in Madiun Regency, East Java, have begun operating and running business activities after being simultaneously inaugurated nationally by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.
“In Madiun Regency there are 198 villages and 8 urban wards, so 206 KDMPs have been established with legal entity status, or 100 per cent. Of that total, 53 KDMPs have already begun business activities,” said Citra Noviyanto, Head of the Cooperatives Division at the Madiun Regency Trade, Cooperatives and Micro-Enterprise Office (Disperdagkop-UM), in Madiun on Wednesday.
He further explained that of the 53 KDMPs already running businesses, 25 are developments of existing cooperatives, such as Women’s Cooperatives.
However, although they have started operations, the 53 KDMP units have not yet occupied the permanent Red-and-White cooperative shop premises or physical buildings constructed under the government programme. This is because they are still awaiting the asset handover process from the Ministry of Cooperatives.
According to Citra, the permanent Red-and-White cooperative shop premises can only be utilised once the Ministry of Cooperatives hands over the assets to the village governments and the regional government.
“There has been no handover as yet. Once the assets are transferred to the village governments for KDMPs and to the regional government for urban wards, then the premises can be used for operations,” he said.
Citra explained that whilst awaiting this process, the dozens of active KDMPs are running their businesses using facilities owned by the village or urban ward governments as temporary offices.
“Some are using a room in the village hall or urban ward office. So for the time being they are making use of existing village government buildings,” he said.
Regarding the physical construction of a number of shop premises that is still under way, Disperdagkop-UM acknowledged it does not yet know the completion target, as the entire construction schedule is set by the central government.
Nevertheless, coordination with the central government, the East Java Provincial Government, and the parties carrying out construction continues to ensure the programme runs smoothly.
Citra said the majority of the KDMPs already operating are engaged in real-sector businesses rather than savings and loans. These include staple food shops, fertiliser kiosks, daily necessities and LPG shops, and others.
“We encourage cooperatives to develop real-sector businesses because their business turnover is faster and they have greater potential for growth compared to savings and loans,” he said.