Housing Minister empowers MSMEs through 'gentengisasi' roof tile programme

Housing and Settlement Areas Minister Maruarar Sirait is empowering micro, small and medium enterprises through the gentengisasi programme so that MSME players can move up the value chain.

“We will empower MSMEs. Tomorrow I will convey to the President about gentengisasi, because the President is very concerned. Tomorrow I have been summoned by him to present it. We have prepared those MSMEs, but there are quality and standardisation requirements, namely industrial reliability,” Ara said in Jakarta on Monday.

He expressed hope that in the near future the ministry will cooperate with MSME players who produce millions of roof tiles.

“Tomorrow I will report to the President on the preparations that have been made so far. We conducted trials several months ago in Plered, Purwakarta and in Jatiwangi, Majalengka. After these few months, I believe there has been progress. Quality, aesthetics and price all need to be developed so that our MSMEs can also move up the value chain,” he said.

As an initial step in implementing the programme, a number of trucks carrying roof tiles from the production centre in Jatiwangi have been dispatched to several housing development projects.

He said the programme is an implementation of President Prabowo Subianto’s directive that public housing development should also deliver economic benefits for small business players and the wider community.

The gentengisasi programme, Maruarar said, is a policy that encourages the use of local MSME products in the construction of public housing across various regions.

He stressed that the future demand for roof tiles in public housing development is very large, so MSME players need to improve their product quality in order to remain competitive.

Roof tiles from Jatiwangi, he continued, represent one of the local wisdoms that form part of the distinctive identity of the community in Majalengka Regency.