Bandung regency poorest in W. Java

BANDUNG: A national survey has found that Bandung regency is the poorest in West Java, followed by Bogor and Cirebon.

In Bandung regency, some 543,000 residents of a 6,400,000- strong population were categorized as poor, said Edi Suharto, a lecturer at the private Social Welfare Institute here.

The statement was based on a survey recently held by the Central Statistics Agency last year.

According to the survey, people are categorized as poor if they earn less than Rp 100,000 (US$11.8) per month, as well as other criteria.

Edi said most of the poor lived outside Java.

With 41 percent of its population categorized as poor, Papua is the poorest province, followed by Maluku at 34.78 percent, Gorontalo at 32.12 percent and East Nusa Tenggara at 30.74 percent. -- Antara