RI can wipe out poverty by year 2000: Soeharto<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto said over the weekend that
\nby the beginning of the 21st century there will be no more
\nIndonesians living below the poverty line.<\/p>\n
Speaking with locals from the Manunggal village in Kutai
\nregency, East Kalimantan, the President cited that 25.9 million
\nIndonesians today live in poverty.<\/p>\n
\"The figure is expected to be reduced as we continue with our
\ndevelopment programs,\" he said. He then added that strides were
\nbeing made to ensure the success of the anti-poverty campaign
\nunder the current Five-Year Development Plan, which ends in 1999,
\nor, at the latest, during the next one.<\/p>\n
Soeharto was speaking with villagers engaged in development
\nactivities and members of the Family Welfare Movement, a woman's
\norganization.<\/p>\n
He added that 22,000 out of Indonesia's 65,000 villages are
\nstill regarded as having been left behind by development.<\/p>\n
To help develop rural areas, the government has increased
\ndevelopment subsidies from Rp 100,000 (US$49) per village to Rp 6
\nmillion ($2,900) each, as reported by Antara.<\/p>\n
The President said that he was proud to hear that a local
\nvillage called Bangun Rejo had been able to increase its rice
\nproduction to 5.5 tons per hectare of paddy field. The previous
\nproduction capacity was not reported.<\/p>\n
Soeharto reported that rice production capacities were still
\nimprovable now that the Ministry of Agriculture has discovered a
\nquick yielding paddy seed which is able to yield crops within
\nfour months instead of six.<\/p>\n
At the occasion Soeharto also called on women to pay more
\nattention to the welfare of children by protecting them from the
\nnegative influence of information filtering in from the outside
\nworld through modern communications systems.<\/p>\n
Many Indonesian families have complained that their children
\nare spending more and more time watching TV programs at the
\nexpense of their school duties.<\/p>\n
The President suggested that the negative impact of foreign
\nprogramming could also be neutralized by more religious education
\nfor children.<\/p>\n
After the dialog Soeharto, accompanied by East Kalimantan
\nGovernor H.M. Ardans, visited a development exhibition.(tis)<\/p>",
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