Parliament Calls for Review After Deadly Cooperative Managers' Basic Training

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Member of Indonesia's House of Representatives (DPR), Nurdin Halid, has called on the government to conduct a comprehensive review of the Indonesian Development Mobilizer Graduates (SPPI) program, an initiative to deploy university graduates in various government programs. It comes after five prospective managers of the Red and White Village Cooperative and Red and White Fishers Village died during basic military training over the past few days.

Red and White Village Cooperatives and Red and White Fishers Cooperatives are the two cooperative-based initiatives by the nation's president, Prabowo Subianto, aimed at increasing people's welfare. About 80,000 village cooperatives had been legally established, while 1,000 fishers cooperatives is being targeted.

To manage such cooperatives, the government hired professional managers through the SPPI. After passing several selection steps, they underwent a basic military training coordinated by the country's Ministry of Defense to shape their character and leadership.

The first victim died on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in Baturaja, East Ogan Komering Ulu Regency, South Sumatra. Four other victims are followed through Friday, June 26, 2026 across various locations in Indonesia.

Nurdin extended his "deepest condolences" to the families of the participants who lost their lives. At the same time, he saw that the review is necessary to ensure participants' safety and improve training quality to prepare skilled personnel to manage the cooperatives.

He explained that SPPI is a strategic program designed to develop highly qualified personnel who will drive the cooperatives, which are expected to strengthen rural economies. As such, the program's implementation must prioritize participant safety without compromising the quality of competency development.

"The government needs to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the entire training process—from medical screening and monitoring participants' physical condition during training to the readiness of the medical response system. Participant safety must be the top priority in every human resource development program," Nurdin said in a statement on Monday, June 29, 2026.

Nurdin also urged the government to improve the training curriculum so that SPPI graduates acquire the skills needed to manage the cooperatives professionally. The lawmaker added that the training should be strengthened in both technical and managerial areas.

"Mastery of these skills is an essential foundation for building village cooperatives that are sound, efficient, competitive, and sustainable as drivers of the local economy," he said as quoted by dpr.go.id.

Nurdin, of the pro-government, centrist Golkar Party, hoped that the evaluation would lead to comprehensive improvements in the program governance, resulting in higher-quality training while continuing to place participant safety first. He also said the success of the cooperatives program would depend not only on the scale of government investment but also on the quality of human capital prepared to manage the cooperatives in a healthy, accountable, and sustainable manner.

"We want SPPI participants to possess not only discipline and a spirit of public service, but also strong business competencies so they can develop the Merah Putih Village Cooperatives into productive, professional economic institutions that deliver tangible benefits to rural communities," he concluded.