Defence Ministry Shortens Training Period for SPPI 'Red and White Cooperative' Programme

The Ministry of Defence has decided to shorten the discipline and leadership training period for participants of the Sarjana Penggerak Pembangunan Indonesia (SPPI) programme for the Red and White Village Cooperatives (KDKMP) to just two weeks. Initially, the basic military training (latsarmil), which was directed towards the reserve component (komcad), had a longer duration. However, Deputy Minister of Defence Donny Ermawan stated the concept has been replaced with State Defence Training and its duration has been cut. “The learning and education venues remain at the 67 TNI educational units, only the timing has changed. This is because we have revised the programme,” Donny said after a meeting with Commission I of the House of Representatives (DPR RI) at the parliament complex in Jakarta on Wednesday. After completing the state defence training, participants will focus on a one-month managerial education programme. They will be educated by the Ministry of Cooperatives and the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, in line with the village cooperative and fishermen cooperative programmes. “The Ministry of Cooperatives has already prepared the modules, as has the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries,” Donny said. He conveyed that this change resulted from an evaluation conducted by the Ministry of Defence following the deaths of five SPPI participants during the earlier training. Meanwhile, Deputy Chairman of Commission I of the DPR, Dave Laksono, stated that the Red and White Cooperative programme has intentions that will have a significant impact on national micro and macro-economic growth. He therefore urged that the programme be executed properly to avoid damaging the government’s image and the sincere intentions promoted by President Prabowo Subianto. “We fully understand, and this serves as extraordinary input to perfect this very noble programme,” Dave said.