Coop Minister: Merah Putih Cooperative Building Can Be Vertical to Overcome Land Issues

The Ministry of Cooperatives is also preparing a work order letter for conditions where land is less than 1,000 square metres. Bandung (ANTARA) - Cooperatives Minister Ferry Juliantono stated that the construction of the Merah Putih Cooperative building can be done vertically or multi-storey to overcome land limitations in urban areas. Ferry explained that the availability of land in major cities is the main challenge, with each cooperative unit expected to have 1,000 square metres of land, so local governments are asked to conduct an inventory of land assets to ensure the continuity of the programme at the village and sub-district levels. “We at the Ministry of Cooperatives are also preparing a work order letter for land conditions of less than 1,000 square metres, because the availability of land in cities is indeed relatively difficult, even if the land area is smaller,” Ferry said at Masjid Al Jabbar, Bandung, West Java, on Sunday. With this multi-storey building concept, Ferry said, it becomes an innovative solution that adjusts the building design to the available land area in order to maximise the function on narrow land. “Perhaps physical buildings, warehouses, and their facilities for limited land will be made vertically,” he explained, outlining plans to adapt infrastructure in densely populated areas. So far, Ferry noted that there are already 2,400 Merah Putih Cooperative units that have been 100 per cent completed in various regions, including West Java and Bandung City. The government targets 34,000 physical buildings to be fully completed in the next one to two months, and in the long term, more than 80,000 cooperatives are targeted to operate. To support smooth operations, the Ministry of Cooperatives is refining cross-sector coordination, from local governments to strategic partners. “We are preparing the operationalisation stage, we will meet with local governments, then PT Agrinas and various parties, in the regions we involve universities and other institutions to perfect the preparation of this Merah Putih Cooperative,” Ferry stated.