BPS to update census for poverty eradication

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In an effort to improve the effectiveness of its poverty eradication programs, the government has commissioned the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) to carry out a more comprehensive census of the country's poor for this year.

With the results of the census, the government expects to be able to obtain a better understanding of the causes underlying poverty in the country, so that it can then implement poverty eradication programs more effectively.

"We have asked the BPS to do a thorough census of the poor down to the family and individual level, locating exactly where they are, and what is the nature of their poverty," State Minister for National Development Planning Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Monday at the House of Representatives.

"We have allocated Rp 250 billion (US$26 million) for the project, and hope it can be finished as soon as possible -- hopefully by the end of the year."

She said the census was important to create a more clear cut and up-to-date database of the country's poor, which then can be used to ensure that poverty alleviation funds are indeed disbursed to those who really need them.

"Many have questioned our criteria in defining poverty, as there is still a disparity between the criteria from BPS and the National Family Planning Board (BKKBN)," she added.

The government currently uses a mix of poverty criteria from the two agencies, combining the World Bank's definition of extreme poverty as those earning less than US$2 a day, and other criteria such as a calorie intake of less than 2,100 calories a day and families still living in houses that have a dirt floor.

In its last annual poverty census in February last year, the BPS reported that Indonesia's poverty rate as of 2004 stood at 16.7 percent of the population, or some 36.1 million people.

The government is aiming to reduce the nation's poverty rate to 8.2 percent in 2009 according to its medium term development program (RPJM), with intermediate levels of 15 percent this year and 13.3 percent in 2006.

Public doubts over such targets have arisen since the government increased domestic fuel prices by an average of 29 percent in March, resulting in skyrocketing inflation of 8.81 percent that month, and more people finding it difficult to purchase basic necessities. Several cases of severe malnutrition have recently been reported throughout the country.

Mulyani acknowledged that such cases has made the government reconsider its poverty eradication programs, as well as to look into ways to improve the regions' capacity to cope with such problems. "We will increase development funds provided for the regions this year for that purpose."

Besides the additional regional development funds and new poverty census, she also said that the government would put more emphasis on providing jobs and improving education and health services for the public.

"To address poverty in the rural areas, we will particularly focus on providing labor-intensive infrastructure development projects," she said. "Meanwhile, in the cities, we will improve the services of community health centers."

The House of Representatives is nearing an agreement with the government in allocating an additional Rp 10.5 trillion to provide free education for children of poor families and improve public health services for those affected by the fuel price hike.