INDOPOSCO.ID – The increasing number of fatalities during basic military training for participants in the Indonesian Development Mobilization Graduate Program (SPPI), who are being prepared as prospective managers of the Red and White Village/Subdistrict Cooperatives (KDMP), has drawn strong criticism.
DPD member Hilmy Muhammad has urged the government to temporarily suspend the program and conduct a comprehensive investigation. According to the senator, widely known as Gus Hilmy, the deaths of five participants cannot be regarded as part of a character-building process.
“Please suspend the program for now and carry out an investigation. The deaths of these five prospective managers are highly unreasonable and cannot be justified under the pretext of character development,” Gus Hilmy said in a statement on Sunday (June 28, 2026).
He argued that a military-style training approach is not relevant to the responsibilities of prospective cooperative managers, whose future roles will primarily involve organizational management, business operations, and human resource management.
“These prospective managers are being prepared to lead teams and manage organizations, not to fight on the battlefield,” he said.
Gus Hilmy also stated that training for prospective managers should focus on strengthening leadership, emotional intelligence, managerial skills, and problem-solving abilities rather than intensive physical conditioning.
He further called for all KDMP recruitment activities and field training to be suspended temporarily to prevent additional casualties. According to him, a comprehensive audit of the program’s safety standard operating procedures (SOPs) should be conducted immediately.
“The training system they are using has proven fatal, so all field activities should be halted immediately,” he said.
He also questioned whether participants had undergone thorough medical examinations before taking part in the physical training. If such procedures were overlooked, he said, it could constitute serious negligence that endangered participants’ safety.
“The police must conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into this case,” he said. (nas)
