Many Kopdes/Kel Merah Putih Affected By The Sumatra Flash Flood, Kemenkop Gives Relaxation

Deputy Minister of Cooperatives Farida Farichah. (Photo: ANTARA)

The Ministry of Cooperatives (Kemenkop) has confirmed that it will provide relaxation for the Red and White Villages Cooperatives affected by flash floods and landslides in Aceh, West Sumatra and North Sumatra.

Deputy Minister of Cooperatives Farida Farichah said the Ministry of Cooperatives had held a coordination meeting and it was decided that relaxation would be given.

"To accelerate the construction of the Merah Putih Village Cooperative, we will postpone it until then there is a recovery, especially the economic recovery in the area that has an impact," said Farida to the media crew at the Kemenkop Office, Wednesday, December 10.

Farida said this decision was made because many Kopdes/Kel Merah Putih were affected. For Aceh Province, Farida said there were at least 3,000 Cooperatives affected by the disaster.

For this reason, he continued, the Ministry of Cooperatives through the Revolving Fund Management Institution (LPDB) has prepared a relaxation scheme for cooperatives that are partners through the addition of a grace period for payment of obligations.

"Later, there will be additional grace periods, usually one year for the installments they did yesterday," he continued.

Not only that, to alleviate the suffering of disaster victims, the Ministry of Cooperatives has also deployed business assistants (BA) and project management officials (PMO) as volunteers.

"We have mobilized our cooperative assistants, BA and PMO to become disaster volunteers for today so that they can be used by the local community to help in crisis conditions," said Farida.

Finally, Kemenkop also plans to form a special post in the affected areas as a center of information and driving cooperative networks. This post will also be tasked with gathering solidarity with assistance from cooperative movements in other areas.

"We are preparing a special post for the Ministry of Cooperatives as well as gathering solidarity with disaster-care cooperatives in Sumatra," said Farida.