Number of poor people in Nusa Tenggara rises

Number of poor people in Nusa Tenggara rises

JAKARTA (JP): The number of poor people in East and West Nusa
Tenggara is on the rise, but distribution of cheap rice to them
is pending a decision from the National Family Planning
Development Board, an official has said.

Provincial logistics agency (Dolog) distribution manager Bakri
said on Saturday that the government had provided 188,156
families 10 kilograms of rice at a subsidized price of Rp 1,000
from January to May this year.

But now at least 197,115 families are in need of subsidized
rice, the Mataram-based distribution official said as quoted by
Antara, citing a Dolog survey taken from July to August.

East Lombok took the lion's share of the subsidized rice, he
said, with 77,381 families targeted by distributors. Central
Lombok had 57,258 families in need of assistance, while West
Lombok had 33,673 families in the program.

But many people not covered by the program are clamoring for
cheap rice, said Bakri. The number of poor families is based on
figures from the National Family Planning Development Board.

"It's true that many needy people are not getting cheap rice
because the distribution is based on data compiled before the
crisis," he said.

Dolog's new data has been forwarded to the board, which will
decide whether it will increase the scope of its distribution
network. Dolog must wait for a decision before it can sell cheap
rice to more families, he said.

In Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, Governor Piter Alexander Tallo
said the number of poor families there had increased to 518,411
from 389,659.

The figures are based on the government definition of
prasejahtera (literally "yet to be prosperous") in which families
are unable to meet basic minimum needs.

More families are expected to fall into destitution in the
province since 1.3 million working-aged people out of a total
population of 3.5 million are currently unemployed.

Failed rice harvests and significantly smaller yields in other
staple crops resulting in a shortage of 81,493 tons of crops
compared to precrisis times has also forced many families into
poverty, Tallo said.

Besides the government program to supply cheap rice to
impoverished families, the governor said the province's poorest
families would receive rice for free.

Labor-intensive projects with daily wages of at least Rp 4,500
are also being carried out along with free additional nutritional
supplements for pregnant women and infants, he added. (yac/anr)