Minister Of Public Works: Santri Training Is A Construction Worker, Not An Exploitation, Its Nature Is Indeed Gotong Royong

Minister of Public Works Dody Hanggodo. (Photo: Theresia Agatha/VOI)

JAKARTA - Minister of Public Works (PU) Dody Hanggodo said that training and certification efforts for students as construction workers were not a form of exploitation.

According to Dody, the training and certification were given because Islamic boarding schools (ponpes) had long built the nature of mutual cooperation.

"(Santri) trained God willing, not (exploited) because it has always been a mutual cooperation," said Dody at the office of the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture, Jakarta, Tuesday, October 14.

Dody said students can help with light things. Meanwhile, heavy tasks are carried out by experts.

"We only help so that the small ones, for example, the business is not too heavy. It's just helping with busking, which is a bit difficult for experts to do," he said.

He considered that not all pesantren had strong financial capacity, so it needed encouragement from the students. "So, mutual cooperation is really, really needed," explained Dody.

Dody does not want the spirit of gotong royong culture, which has been rooted for a long time, to disappear.

"We really hope that this spirit will turn into recognized expertise, they students can build their own pesantres with the right standards," he explained.

Previously, the Al-Khoziny Islamic Boarding School building located in Buduran District, Sidoarjo Regency, East Java, collapsed on Monday afternoon, September 29.

The building collapsed and hit hundreds of students who were praying in congregation.

Salah satu hal yang paling disoroti dalam kejadian tersebut adalah masalah tidak adanya Persetujuan Bangunan Gedung (PBG).

Selain itu, disebut-sebut pembangunan Ponpes Al-Khoziny juga dilakukan secara mandiri oleh para santri tanpa standar jelas.

Untuk itu, pemerintah akan memperkuat koordinasi lintas kementerian dan pemerintah daerah untuk terus melakukan sosialisasi terkait pentingnya izin dan sertifikasi bangunan, khususnya bagi ponpes.

One of the things most highlighted in the incident was the problem of the absence of Building Approval (PBG).

In addition, it is said that the construction of the Al-Khoziny Islamic Boarding School is also carried out independently by students without clear standards.

For this reason, the government will strengthen coordination across ministries and local governments to continue to disseminate information regarding the importance of building permits and certification, especially for Islamic boarding schools.