Instead of budgeting, we should focus to make this program right on target and run smoothly
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin on Wednesday led a coordination meeting on the acceleration of efforts to end extreme poverty in Maluku.

The coordination meeting was attended by Maluku Governor Murad Ismail and local government officials from five districts in priority areas.

"There were more than five districts with extreme poverty in Maluku, but for this year, we focus on these five areas. We hope to finish it in 2021, so that next year we can end extreme poverty in other districts," Amin said in Maluku Governor's office in Ambon, quoted by the Vice President Secretariat Press, Media, and Information Bureau.

The efforts to end extreme poverty in 35 priority districts, including five in Maluku, are being carried out using social assistance programs and community empowerment programs, he noted.

During Wednesday's meeting, Amin instructed the Maluku provincial government and the governments of five priority regions to coordinate in aspects ranging from updating data on extremely poor households to ensuring that the extreme poverty resolution program is on target.

"This extreme poverty alleviation is in accordance with existing programs. All of this had been coordinated with the regions, and the budget for this mitigation came from the central government, provincial and district government budgets, as well as from the private sector," he informed.

The Vice President also assured that the resolution of extreme poverty in 35 priority areas, including in Maluku, will not be impeded by funding constraints. The budget for this program in 2021 is sufficient, he said.

"Instead of budgeting, we should focus to make this program right on target and run smoothly," Amin added.

For this program, the government will provide additional assistance in the form of basic food assistance and cash assistance, he informed. The additional assistance is expected to end extreme poverty in 35 districts in seven provinces, he said.

"This additional cash will be given to extremely poor households in five districts in Maluku for three months. We hope the aid can be put to good use," Amin remarked.

The five districts in Maluku that will be prioritized by the poverty alleviation program in 2021 are West Southeast Maluku, Southeast Maluku, Central Maluku, Eastern Seram, and Southwest Maluku.

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Translator: Fransiska Ninditya, Resinta S
Editor: Sri Haryati
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