"Coastal areas turn out to be the hotspots for poverty, followed by agricultural areas. This has become our shared homework," the ministry's Deputy for Coordination of Social Welfare Improvement, Nunung Nuryartono, stated on Monday.
Nuryartono conveyed this at the regional coordination meeting 1 with all regional governments throughout Sumatra Province at the ministry's office.
He pointed out that, based on reports, 62 districts and cities have recorded extreme poverty rates higher than the national average.
In Sumatra, the percentage of extreme poverty in each district and city varied. However, Nuryartono remarked that the focus of the target will be areas with rates above one to three percent.
"We already detect which districts will be our main focus in the next five months," he remarked.
According to the deputy, the district and city government had budgeted funds to accelerate poverty alleviation. His side, along with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Villages, Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration, are tasked with conducting periodic monitoring and evaluation and intervening if the need arises.
Nuryartono then outlined several efforts to eradicate extreme poverty, such as encouraging local governments to produce and process commodities from raw to finished goods.
"For example, they can process coffee or rubber. These production stages are expected to absorb the workforce," he explained.
In addition, the central and regional governments are mapping the elderly and unproductive disabled members of the population in need of assistance.
"For the next five months, according to the Presidential Regulation Number 4 of 2022, all hands should work to achieve the target," he remarked.
Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy stated when met separately on Monday that the national unemployment rate has decreased.
"According to the national data, the rate has decreased," he noted at the Presidential Palace.
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Translator: Asep Firmansyah, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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