Zulhas Emphasizes Kopdes Merah Putih is Not Just a Village Supermarket

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Food and Agriculture Zulkifli Hasan emphasized that the Red and White Village/Neighborhood Cooperative is not only prepared as a trading outlet such as a supermarket. The government will make it a channel for distributing assistance, subsidized goods, and the purchase of certain agricultural products.

"The Red and White Village Cooperative is the government's infrastructure," said Zulkifli Hasan at the Presidential Palace Complex, Jakarta, Wednesday, July 15.

The man, who is familiarly called Zulhas, said the government had decided that social assistance and subsidized goods would later be distributed through Kopdes Merah Putih.

"The Red and White Village Cooperative as a government infrastructure will distribute assistance, all assistance. Then also distribute all subsidized goods," he said.

In addition to being a distribution channel, cooperatives are also prepared as buyers of agricultural products when market prices fall below the government's set price.

For the initial stage, the commodities that have been decided are rice and corn.

"If it is still below that, then the Kopdes can take over," said Zulhas.

In this scheme, the Kopdes acts as an offtaker or buyer of the harvest. This function is expected to keep the price of rice and corn from falling below government regulations.

Zulhas has not detailed the source of the purchase capital, the readiness of the warehouse, nor the mechanism for distributing all assistance and subsidized goods through cooperatives.

He also did not mention when the function would be fully implemented in all areas.