Gerindra on Discourse of Village Cooperatives Managing Mines: It Is Permitted

The Central Leadership Board (DPP) of the Gerindra Party supports the discourse that cooperatives can manage community oil wells, palm oil, and mineral mines. Gerindra Party spokesperson Bahtra Banong assessed that there are no regulations prohibiting the management of mines by cooperatives or the Merah Putih Village Cooperatives (KDMP). “We have heard that it is permitted,” Bahtra said at the parliamentary complex on Thursday (16/7). According to Bahtra, the mining and palm oil management permits for village cooperatives or cooperatives in general are intended so that their members can also benefit. The Deputy Chairman of House Commission II considered that as long as the discourse does not conflict with regulations, it is legitimate. He expressed hope that mine management could improve the welfare of cooperative administrators and members. “How to improve the welfare of members and administrators so that the direct impact of the existence of these cooperatives, especially the KDMP, can be felt by the local village community,” he said. In his speech at the peak of the 79th National Cooperative Day commemoration in Jakarta last Sunday (12/7), Cooperatives Minister Ferry Juliantono stated that cooperatives are now permitted to manage community oil wells and mineral mines. This applies not only to village cooperatives or KDMP, but to cooperatives in general. This means cooperatives are no longer merely places for buying and selling goods and providing savings and loan services. Ferry even mentioned that a crude palm oil (CPO) mill managed by a cooperative will be inaugurated next month. “Cooperatives can now enter various sectors to manage community oil wells; cooperatives are now allowed to manage mineral mines,” Ferry said.