JAKARTA — The government ensures that the use of Village Funds to support the implementation of the Red and White Village/Sub-district Cooperative (Kopdes) priority program will not disrupt ongoing village development.
Minister of State Secretary (Mensesneg) Prasetyo Hadi emphasized that the transfer of Village Fund allocations was carried out without reducing the total budget allocation received by villages.
“This only shifts the allocation, not reduces [the allocation of Village Funds], and the focus is also on the villages,” said State Secretary Prasetyo.
He explained that various other development programs targeting rural areas are also continuing and are not dependent on Village Funds, such as school renovations and bridge construction.
“Many government programs also target villages, including revitalization, repairs, and renovations of schools, and bridges. These programs don’t utilize Village Funds, even though they could be used for those purposes as well,” he said.
Prasetyo added that the plan to allocate Village Funds to support the Red and White Village Cooperative had been discussed and socialized from the start.
“So everything has been discussed from the start,” he said.
Meanwhile, Cooperatives Minister Ferry Juliantono said that the Red and White Village Cooperatives (Kopdes Merah Putih) was designed to become a center of economic activity at the village level while strengthening the community business ecosystem.
“The first is to build an ecosystem with street vendors throughout Indonesia, through the Merah Putih Village/Sub-district Cooperative, which will serve as a hub for selling goods to stalls and members of the street vendor association at relatively lower and more affordable prices,” Ferry said.
Chairman of Commission XI of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Mukhamad Misbakhun, also invited the community to support Kopdes as a center for driving the village economy.
“We hope that the Merah Putih Village Cooperative will become the center of village economic activity,” said Misbakhun.
On the other hand, Minister of Trade Budi Santoso emphasized that the presence of Kopdes Merah Putih is not to compete with modern retail, but rather to build more efficient distribution collaboration.
“This is actually a good opportunity to collaborate with minimarkets and distributors to distribute their products through village cooperatives,” Budi said.
In terms of governance, DPD RI Member Muhdi reminded the importance of managing Kopdes based on local potential and wisdom to avoid overlapping with existing businesses in the village.
“This is to prevent this from dragging on. Therefore, I strongly urge the village heads, neighborhood associations, and community associations to work together to ensure that the cooperative belongs to the residents themselves, that the community itself is supported, and that it is run properly and transparently,” he said.
With this support, the government emphasized that the Red and White Village Cooperative Program is part of a strategy to strengthen the village economy without sacrificing planned development priorities.