Cooperative Minister Addresses Out-of-Province Placement of 1,900 Village Cooperative Managers

Approximately 1,900 managers of the Merah Putih Village/Sub-district Cooperatives (Kopdes Merah Putih) have been assigned to locations outside their home provinces to fill management shortages in several regions. This figure represents roughly 11 per cent of the total managers deployed by the government.

Minister of Cooperatives Ferry Juliantono stated that these cross-province placements are based on regional human resource requirements. The government, in collaboration with PT Agrinas Pangan Nusantara, will maintain the current status of these managers while preparing for future adjustments to their duty locations.

“The cross-province placement is intended solely to fill human resource gaps in areas that require personnel,” Ferry said during a press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday (29/09/2026).

He emphasised that managers placed outside their home provinces will not be disqualified. According to Ferry, the government will seek more suitable duty locations once the Kopdes Merah Putih buildings are available. In the meantime, these managers will retain their status as deployed personnel.

Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Zulkifli Hasan previously noted that the number of trained managers exceeds the number of cooperatives ready for occupation. More than 30,000 managers have undergone training, whereas the number of available Kopdes buildings has not yet reached that level.

Zulkifli requested that the managers accept these initial placements to ensure their status remains valid. He stated that the government will adjust duty locations for those currently placed far from their permanent residences.

“Once they have accepted the placement, they will be reassigned to the nearest cooperative relative to their domicile,” Zulkifli said.

The government aims to complete the placement of Kopdes managers by 1 October 2026 and will begin conducting gradual evaluations starting from 7 October 2026.