Success Stories Of Persons With Disabilities In Surabaya Developing The First Sharia Rusunawa Cooperative

SURABAYA - Apart from opening massage services, Karjono is also active in cooperative activities. In fact, this blind person with disabilities is one of the initiators and founders of the first sharia rusunawa cooperative in the city of Surabaya.

Because of his persistence, Karjono has succeeded in developing cooperatives and has more than 100 members. When met at his residence in Rusunawa Siwalankerto Surabaya, Karjono showed the "Al-Muhajirin Siwalankerto Sejahtera Sharia Cooperative" which is in the location of the flat owned by the Surabaya City Government (Pemkot).

The father of five children is also entrusted with being the Chief Executive of the cooperative. Meanwhile, the general chairman is Imam Besari who is also the chairman of the Takmir Musala in the flat.

"This is the first sharia cooperative and is still the only sharia cooperative in Rusunawa Surabaya," said Karjono, when met at the Rusunawa Siwalankerto Surabaya cooperative, Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Karjono also talked about the beginning of the formation of this cooperative. At that time he and Imam Besari wanted to establish a cooperative in the flat. With the hope that the residents in the rusunawa will be more prosperous together through the existence of cooperatives.

"In the past, we only initiated it in 2017 to 2018, I was with Pak Imam Besari. Then the other (flat) residents started to participate," he said.

However, Karjono admitted that the initial formation of this cooperative was not easy. This is because inviting residents to join as members and convincing them to trust each other is not an easy job.

However, with Karjono's persistence and persistence, gradually the residents in the Rusunawa began to join forces one by one as cooperative members.

"Previously, at the beginning of our monthly compulsory savings, we set Rp10 thousand per person. So, in the end, there were 20 people joining so that the money was collected Rp.

However, because the initial capital requirement for the formation of a cooperative was Rp. 15 million, Karjono and his colleagues still had to think about it.

Of the Rp200 thousand funds collected, Karjono then wrote a letter to the Mayor of Surabaya for a request for assistance of Rp. 20 million, with details of Rp. 15 million as initial capital and Rp. 5 million as notary fees for the legality of the cooperative.

"We conveyed our wishes at that time to Mrs. Risma. It turns out that Mrs. Risma is extraordinary, she immediately responded to our desire to form this cooperative and it was really proven, including the initial capital from her who was assisted by Rp20 million," said Karjono.

Right on May 30, 2019, finally "Al-Muhajirin Siwalankerto Sejahtera Sharia Cooperative" has official legality. With the Rp20 million fund assistance from the Surabaya City Government, Karjono used it as the initial capital for the formation of the cooperative.

"Alhamdulillah again, we are assisted by a notary in Surabaya, the legality fee is waived. So that the Rp. 5 million which is planned to be used for the notary's fees is intact, we turn it into capital (Grocery Store)," he said.

In the management of cooperative management, Karjono admitted that so far his party has also been accompanied by the Surabaya Office of Cooperatives and Micro Businesses (Dinkopum). Every two weeks, a team from Dinkopum comes to provide assistance. Such as helping with cooperative bookkeeping to stock items.

"We are accompanied once every two weeks by a team from there (Dinkopum) to here. Including when holding the first RAT (Annual Member Meeting) in November 2020, we were also directed. Because our legal entity is in 2019, while early 2020 is the pandemic period. The RAT was postponed in November 2020, "he explained.

Over time, the cooperative that was initiated by Karjono and his colleagues now has more than Rp100 million in assets, both in cash and goods in the grocery store. Even the number of members in this cooperative has reached 130 people, the majority of the members of the cooperative are residents of the Siwalankerto Rusunawa.

"We do this because we want to maintain business stability. Because our mission is to unite. We have the principle of the broom stick, how to put the broom stick together so that it becomes an economic force," he said.

Karjono hopes that in the future Rusunawa can become a one spot center concept. Where the flat does not only function as a place to live, but there is also stability, and there is control or cooperation in terms of the economy.

"We hope the residents of the flat are more prosperous. Hopefully all the residents of the flat can have their own houses. So that we can immediately leave this flat and this flat can be occupied by other residents of Surabaya who need or do not have a house," he said.