Mendes: Well-managed village potential can generate prosperity

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Minister of Villages and Underdeveloped Regions (Mendes PDT) Yandri Susanto stated that village potentials, when managed well, can generate prosperity for the community. “The main point is, if we manage our villages well, prosperity will emerge, and that is where we will reduce poverty rates, especially those in deciles 1 to 5,” said Minister Yandri, quoted in Jakarta on Wednesday. This was conveyed by Minister Yandri during an audience with Garut Regent Abdusy Syakur Amin and his team in his office at the Ministry of Villages and Underdeveloped Regions, Jakarta, on Tuesday (12/5). In the meeting, Garut Regent Abdusy Syakur Amin discussed problems in Garut Regency, from high poverty rates to low education levels. According to him, the regency with a population of 2.8 million has high poverty rates. He stated that the population in deciles 1–5 in Garut Regency reaches 1.6 million. Meanwhile, regarding education levels, the average schooling is only 7.86 years. Therefore, he held an audience with Minister Yandri to maximise all the potentials in the villages of Garut Regency. “Potentials in the agricultural sector include chilli, maize, and so on. Meanwhile, tourism potentials include tea plantations that we will promote to become tourism villages,” he said. In response, Minister Yandri reaffirmed his commitment to help maximise the village potentials in Garut Regency. According to him, village tourism potentials and thematic villages will be directed towards becoming export villages. Furthermore, Minister Yandri said that maximising the village potentials in Garut Regency will impact economic growth, so poverty rates will automatically decrease.