60 million citizens poor

JAKARTA: The number of people living in poverty in the country may have reached 60 million, but just 31.57 million of them have access to free medical care, an official says.

President director of state health insurance company PT Askes Orie Andari Sutadji said on Tuesday the government had allocated Rp 1 trillion (US$103 million) in fuel subsidy compensation funds for free health care schemes run by the company for over 36 million poor people.

The government determined the number of poor people based on the latest survey by the Central Statistics Bureau (BPS).

"But local governments set the figure higher, at 18.5 million. If we count people who have fallen victim to natural disaster, beggars and street children, we estimate the total number of poor people could reach 60 million," Orie said on the sidelines of a visit to the company by Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari.

Siti said the government would cover the health care costs of all poor people. -- Antara