The PKP Ministry and Cooperatives support the arrangement of Yogyakarta River River banks with mutual cooperation and cooperatives

KABARJAWA – The Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PKP) together with the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs expressed full support for the arrangement of residents’ settlements on the banks of the Yogyakarta City River.

They assess the arrangement of mutual cooperation and cooperatives is able to create a big transformation for the lives of the poor.

Arrangement of settlements in the banks of the Yogyakarta River

Deputy Minister of PKP Fahri Hamzah asserted that his party welcomed the inspiration of the Kalijawi Association which carried the arrangement of mutual cooperation -based settlements and cooperatives.

Fahri assessed that the Kalijawi movement was a real example of the people who rose together to resolve the problem of uninhabitable homes in urban areas.

“We appreciate the Kalijawi Circle of Friends who have begun the mutual cooperation movement involving cooperatives in the arrangement of settlements in riverbanks. This movement encourages the PKP Ministry to strengthen cooperation between ministries in order to realize 3 million houses and the president’s promise to activate the community in housing development,” Fahri said.

Fahri explained that the PKP Ministry had three main programs, namely housing renovations, area renovations, and the construction of vertical houses in urban areas.

However, he stressed that housing development should not only involve large entrepreneurs. Fahri assessed that housing construction must go down into the business of the community itself.

“The most concrete form is cooperative. The community must be empowered with cooperatives so that housing development is not controlled by a handful of parties,” said Fahri.

Kalijawi Circle of Friends

Chairman of the Kalijawi Association Ainun Murwani said that Kalijawi wanted to expand collaboration. Kalijawi aspires to make the security movement settled as a joint movement that has a broad impact in the city of Yogyakarta.

The Kalijawi Circle of Friends consists of tough women who live on the banks of the Gajah Wong and Winongo rivers.

Ainun said his members struggled to solve uninhabitable home problems by saving Rp2,000 per day. The small savings become a joint ritual to invite active mothers in settlement development.

“Many residents of riverbanks work in the informal sector. They cannot access housing programs for low -income people. In Notoyudan, there are 61 families who are carrying, protecting, and not safe to live,” said Ainun.

Ainun explained that Kalijawi proposed the concept of cooperatives to buy land, then residents repay the land through cooperatives. After the land ownership was clear, they submitted a house construction to the Yogyakarta City PUPR.

“With cooperatives, residents can have their own land and home without fear of being evicted. We want women to be pioneers of security,” said Ainun.

Deputy Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs Ferry Juliantono expressed full support for the collaboration of cooperative -based housing development.

Ferry emphasized that the signing of a joint agreement between the Ministry of Cooperatives and the PKP Ministry became an important milestone for the acceleration of public housing development.

“We encourage the construction of cooperative -based housing. Starting from land acquisition, building houses, to the management of housing areas. The cooperative approach will solve the problem of land acquisition and the construction of houses that have been difficult for small communities,” Ferry said.

Ferry believes that with mutual cooperation, cooperatives, and cross-ministerial collaboration, the ideals of presenting decent housing for residents of riverbanks in the city of Yogyakarta will be realized.

The government is committed to making the people the main actors of development, not only spectators in their own land. (EF Linangkung)