Indonesia scales back military training for staff in President’s cooperative project after deaths

JAKARTA - Indonesia has scaled back its basic military training for prospective managers of President Prabowo Subianto’s village cooperative programme, a defence ministry spokesperson said on June 30, after five participants died in the first two weeks of the 45-day training programme. The defence ministry is leading the training for nearly 35,000 people across several regional military training units. The programme started on June 14 and is due to run until July 31, and candidates must complete the training before they can become a cooperative manager. The defence ministry said on June 27 that five people died between June 17 and June 26 due to a variety of causes including cardiac arrest, heat stroke, tuberculosis and pneumonia. Rico Sirait, a defence ministry spokesperson, told Reuters on June 30 that after an evaluation, the format of the training had been restructured. “The technical material and military tactics have been removed, including shooting activities. Physical intensity is also reduced and adjusted with the participants’ backgrounds as civilians,” he said, adding the focus is now on building character, discipline, leadership, and partnerships. The ministry had said the five people who died were cleared to join the training after medical checks, and that the training did not involve strenuous physical activity. Launched last July, the “Red and White Cooperatives” programme aims to establish around 80,000 village cooperatives across Indonesia to create jobs and meet the government’s target of 8 per cent economic growth in 2029. They are intended to sell basic goods, subsidised cooking gas and fertiliser. On June 28, Indonesia’s human rights commission called on the government to end the basic military training for the prospective managers.