Kemenkop UKM Emphasizes The Need For Cooperative LPS, This Is The Reason

Deputy for Cooperatives of the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs Ahmad Zabadi. (Photo: Doc. Kemenkop UKM)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs (Kemenkop UKM) emphasized the need for a cooperative Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS) that can protect the rights of members, especially savings and loan cooperatives who are harmed.

"The formation of LPS is solely carried out because the government wants to protect the interests of cooperative members and the community from practices that harm cooperative members," said Deputy for Cooperatives at the Coordinating Ministry for SMEs Ahmad Zabadi in a written statement received by VOI, Friday, December 8.

Deputy Zabadi assessed that there were many problems at the Savings and Loans Cooperative (KSP) because cooperatives had not yet formed a solid ecosystem for cooperatives. Strong cooperatives can only be built based on new or more laws that can accommodate the changing times

"If we look at banks during COVID-19, there are banks that have problems. If the banking ecosystem is not strong, they may fail to pay. Even though there is a problem, there is no rush because the bank industry already has an LPS which guarantees customer deposits of up to Rp. 2 billion," he said.

He emphasized that the presence of LPS is one of the concrete steps taken by the government in preparing a solid cooperative ecosystem.

The preparation of the ecosystem is very urgent, according to the mandate of the Constitutional Court when canceling all content of Law Number 17 of 2012 concerning Cooperatives.

"This has been more than 10 years since the Constitutional Court's decision. The new Cooperative Law must be present in order to accommodate the changes in the times and current conditions. We have coordinated with the DPR to discuss the Cooperative Bill. The DPR promised to prioritize the Cooperative Bill after the recess is complete," said Zabadi.

Meanwhile, Legal Observer from Sebelas Maret University Pujiyono Suwadi said, basically cooperatives do belong to members. However, cooperatives also have independent legal subjects, including administrators

According to him, currently there are many administrators who feel that the cooperative belongs to them. So, the management can do whatever they want in managing cooperatives. In fact, this step could have a negative impact on the continuity of the cooperative.

"This needs to be improved. The new Cooperative Law must be present immediately with the spirit of improving and encouraging cooperatives to advance to class," he said.