Gus Fawait Calls for Collaboration to Eradicate Poverty in Jember

Jember Regent Muhammad Fawait has called on all stakeholders in the region to collaborate in eradicating extreme poverty. Specifically, the man familiarly known as Gus Fawait has invited state-owned enterprises PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) and Perum Perhutani to utilise productive state-owned land in Jember to tackle poverty, which currently affects 216,760 individuals. “Poverty in Jember cannot be addressed solely through the Jember Regency Budget. We must collaborate,” said Gus Fawait in a press release during a discussion titled “Portrait of Extreme Poverty on State Land, Who is Responsible?” held at Jember University on Monday (13/4/2026). Gus Fawait hopes that PTPN can ensure that residents working on plantations receive fair wages. This is because data shows that many residents living on state land are extremely poor. Based on data from the Jember Regency Government in December 2025, extremely poor residents or those in Decile 1 in plantation areas number 22,043 individuals or 5,325 families. Meanwhile, Perum Perhutani is asked to provide access for extremely poor residents to manage social forestry. In Jember, there are around 36,000 hectares of forest area land that will be converted into social forests. “We cannot ask for funds from PTPN and Perhutani. But they have assets that can be utilised to support the President’s programme and the regency’s programme for poverty alleviation,” he continued. Fawait hopes that through guidance and training from the Jember Regency Government, every extremely poor family can manage at least one hectare of land. Thus, the social forest managing families will automatically exit the extremely poor category. Chairman of Commission C of the Jember Regency DPRD, Ardi Pujo Prabowo, agreed with Gus Fawait’s statement. Ardi encouraged PTPN and Perhutani not to merely employ extremely poor residents as seasonal workers. “If poverty can be eradicated, residents should be given land so they can share in the benefits from the SOEs. We believe that aid that does not educate should not be given,” said Ardi at the same event.