"This afternoon, I witnessed the Belawan Marine Village area being repaired, starting with three houses," Jokowi stated in Belawan, Medan, North Sumatra, on Thursday.
The housing location was being repaired by the government due to tidal flooding that occurred in the area.
The visit was one of the series of events that the president participated in during the commemoration of the 29th National Family Day organized by the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN).
Residents' houses in the area are mostly built with mangrove wood and supported by high pillars to avoid the tidal flood from entering the houses and carrying along garbage.
Jokowi said that this condition puts children at risk of suffering from diseases, such as diarrhea and skin ailments. He stated that the government will immediately re-arrange the area to be more habitable.
Improvement of the environment also includes the handling of clean water and proper sanitation for families handled by the Medan city government, central government, and the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR).
"This also includes the roads of villages to realize a healthier family. We also aim to eradicate extreme poverty," the president noted.
In addition to improving houses and sanitation, the government will build a water embankment to solve the problem of tidal flooding in the area.
He said all these efforts were aimed at freeing children from stunting and achieving one of the targets that he has set of reducing stunting prevalence to 14 percent by 2024.
"(There has been a) decline in stunting (in Indonesia) in seven years, falling from 37 percent to 24.4 percent. Our target in 2024 is 14 percent," he added.
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Translator: Hreeloita Dharma S, Resinta S
Editor: Suharto
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