Meohai Kendari ATENSI Creation Center Inaugurated, Social Minister Risma Admits the Quality of Beneficiary Products

KENDARI (18 March 2022) - Minister of Social Affairs Tri Rismaharini inaugurated the Meohai Kendari ATENSI Creation Center located on Jalan Poros Haluoleo Airport, Ranooha, Ranomeeto, South Konawe Regency, Southeast Sulawesi.

Meohai Kendari as the 13th ATENSI Creation Center which was inaugurated is full of local culture. This is shown from the work of the beneficiaries, one of which is the Tolaki Traditional Plaited Mat. These mats are made for sitting mats, rice filters, bags, and storage areas.

Social Minister Risma acknowledged the quality of traditional products at SKA Meohai Kendari. "The product is good, but it needs to be supported by good marketing, starting from the arrangement, sales, until it is important to meet market demand", suggested Social Minister Risma.

The Minister of Social Affairs also said that SKA Meohai Kendari is a place for beneficiaries to produce their work so that they can earn income. But not just making without paying attention to market needs. "Following market tastes is not easy, but it must be done so that the product can be sold," he said.

The maker of the Tolaki Traditional Mat is a beneficiary for the elderly with visual sensory disabilities who is familiarly called Grandma Suhaya (76 years old). She became a productive old woman who likes to weave mats made from dried pandan trees.

In this Center, there is also a coffee cafe, ornamental plant cultivation, hydroponic vegetables, catfish cultivation, a gallery of beneficiary works, and an _Art Space_ for the actualization of the art of the beneficiaries.

As a center for entrepreneurship and vocational development as well as a media for promoting the work of beneficiaries in one area, the ATENSI Meohai Kendari Creation Center is also synonymous with hydroponic catfish and lettuce cultivation. Cultivated products are being developed to be marketed to Kendari City and its surroundings.

In the momentum of the inauguration of SKA Meohai Kendari, the Minister of Social Affairs also handed over assistance for Social Rehabilitation Assistance (ATENSI) worth a total of Rp. 297,146,400 to beneficiaries in Kendari. Consists of beneficiaries for children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.