The Stalled Launch of Red-and-White Cooperatives

November 4, 2025 | 03:06 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A sticker with the words "Red-and-White Subdistrict Cooperative (KKMP) of Pulisen" is affixed to the window of a small room in the corner of the Pulisen Sub-district Office in Boyolali, Central Java. Nothing was going on in the tidy room. Since the cooperative was established four months ago, it has only been used to store chairs and tables. "Our cooperative has not started operating at all," Hartanti, chair of KKMP Pulisen, said in an interview with Tempo on Thursday, October 30, 2025.

The residents of Pulisen took the initiative to establish a cooperative in hopes of stimulating the local economy of the subdistrict, located approximately two kilometers from the Kidul Boyolali Square. This initiative was inspired by President Prabowo Subianto's announcement on March 3, 2025, regarding the launch of the Red-and-White Village/Subdistrict Cooperative Program. However, like thousands of other inactive cooperatives across the region, the Pulisen cooperative management faced the same challenge: capital.

Since its founding on June 17, 2025, the Pulisen Cooperative continues to rely on small, basic, mandatory savings from its members. "This is not enough to start a trading or savings and loan business," said Hartanti. The management had planned to apply for a capital loan from the bank, but hesitated as they had no collateral. "Unlike villages, sub-districts don't have village funds that can be used as collateral."

The same situation is happening in the Kerten Red-and-White Subdistrict Cooperative in Solo, Central Java, inaugurated on July 30, 2025. Edi Suhardi, head of the Kerten KKMP, said they faced the same main challenge. "It's the capital," he said on Tuesday, October 28, 2025. Kerten Cooperative had initially started a trading venture with several suppliers as partners. However, this activity has recently slowed down.

Read the Complete Story in Tempo English Magazine

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