VP chairs meeting to reduce extreme poverty in East Java

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin chaired a coordination meeting with the East Java regional government to discuss efforts to reduce and solve the problem of extreme poverty in five districts.

In a statement from the Press, Media and Information Bureau of the Vice President's Secretariat, Thursday, the meeting was attended by Governor of East Java Khofifah Parawansa, Acting Probolinggo District Head Timbul Prihanjoko, Bojonegoro District Head Anna Muawanah, Lamongan District Head Yuhronur Efendi, Bangkalan District Head Latief Amin Imron, and Sumenep District Head Achmad Fauzi.

Amin urged local governments to determine priority places, prioritize resources, and accelerate efforts to reduce extreme poverty.

The efforts can be undertaken through the use of a combination of indicators of percentage and the count of extreme poor people in one area.

"The combination of these two indicators is expected to direct local governments to select areas that not only have a high percentage of the extremely poor population but also have an extremely large population," he explained.

Amin also emphasized that the budget was not the main challenge in the efforts to address the problem of extreme poverty in 2021.

The government will increase the allocation of funding for reducing extreme poverty through social assistance programs, he remarked.

"The additional funding for extreme poverty reduction through cash social assistance will be offered to five priority districts for reducing extreme poverty for three months until the end of 2021," he noted.

The total number of extreme poor in five priority districts in East Java reached 508,571 people, with a total of 265,180 extreme poor households.

Five districts in East Java Province that are priority areas for tackling extreme poverty until the end of 2021 are Probolinggo District, with 114,250 people, or 9.74 percent; Bojonegoro District, 50,200 people, or 6.05 percent; Lamongan District, 87,620 people, or 7.37 percent; Bangkalan District on Madura Island, 123,490 people, or 12.44 percent; and Sumenep District on Madura Island, 130,750 people, or 11.98 percent. (*)