According to Teten Masduki, cases of alleged fraudulent investments actually occur not only in cooperatives, but also in companies that collect public funds.
By
Kompas Team
·3 minutes read
ARSIP KEMENTERIAN KOPERASI DAN UKM
Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Teten Masduki.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — On the 74th anniversary of the Indonesian Cooperative on Monday (12/7/2021), various challenges still confront the institution, which relies on the common aspirations of its members. Some of these challenges include a lack of understanding about cooperatives and weak governance and supervision.
In a special interview with Kompas last week, Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Teten Masduki said there were also challenges related to savings and loan cooperatives (KSP), such as payment defaults.
"There are cooperatives that deviate, do not comply with regulations, do not carry out annual member meetings [RAT] and fail in investments, so they fail to pay their members," he said.
According to Teten, cases of alleged fraudulent investments actually occur not only in cooperatives, but also in companies that collect public funds.
"Essentially, with low financial business literacy, the various investments offering large incomes are not adequately assessed," Teten said.
One case of payment default that recently surfaced involved a cooperative with around 170,000 members. Chatarina, a resident of Ciledug, Tangerang, Banten, said last week that she had deposited Rp 100 million (US$6,902) in the cooperative since 2018.
“Every year, the interest was always added [to the deposit]. It was promised; the interest was 13 percent," she said.
KOMPAS/HARIS FIRDAUS
Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Teten Masduki (left) at the opening ceremony of the Puskop Credit Union Indonesia Annual Member Meeting, Friday (28/5/2021), at the Melia Purosani Hotel, Yogyakarta.
Suddenly, in April 2020, one her friends wanted to cash out their savings, but couldn\'t.
“Then, we received a circular from the cooperative, which was a one-sided decision. They said that all deposits had to be automatically renewed due to the pandemic," Chatarina said.
KSP Sejahtera Bersama (SB) president director Vini Noviani, who only wanted to answer via WhatsApp on Friday (9/7), said the cooperative\'s failure to pay was because many depositors had withdrawn their funds during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It had been badly impacted by the pandemic because most of its borrowers asked for a restructuring and relaxation of loans as recommended by the government.
This, according to her, had an impact on KSP SB\'s business and operations, which channeled nearly 90 percent of its loans to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME). It had been badly impacted by the pandemic because most of its borrowers asked for a restructuring and relaxation of loans as recommended by the government.
Meanwhile, in Kediri, East Java, Agus, 56, told Kompas about his membership in a cooperative engaging in the field of honey bee cultivation. He paid a membership fee of Rp 250,000 and a bee nest guarantee of Rp 1 million per unit. Agus also entrusted Rp 50 million to a friend who had joined earlier.
ARSIP KEMENTERIAN KOPERASI DAN UKM
These various MSME products were exhibited in Jakarta some time ago.
He had only enjoyed one harvest worth Rp 9 million before the management of the cooperative disappeared with hundreds of billions of rupiah.
Trust
Andy Arslan Djunaid, chairman of the Jasa Savings and Loans Cooperative (Kospin) in Pekalongan, Central Java, said cooperative managers needed to communicate with their members regarding the obstacles they face. Through this effort, they could receive feedback and criticism from members, who would feel more involved and trust them.
“Cooperatives must also provide more benefits. At Kospin Jasa, we provide compensation for members who die and provide Lebaran holiday allowances,” he said. The cooperative has 320,000 members. (OSA/WER/XTI)
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