Number of poor soars in North Sumatra

Number of poor soars in North Sumatra

MEDAN: The number of people living in poverty in North Sumatra
has nearly doubled over the past five years, a local health
official says.

The head of the North Sumatra Health Office, Fatni Sulani,
said on Saturday that as of December 2002 there were 2.993
million people officially classified as poor in the province, up
from 1.5 million five years ago.

Fatni said residents classified as poor were those who could
not afford medical treatment or necessary medicines.

According to data from the health office, Medan municipality
has the highest number of poor with 624,755 people, followed by
Nias regency with 503,595, Deliserdang with 335,570, Langkat with
245,675 and Labuhan Batu with 174,155.

Fatni said poverty in the province had soared since the
economic crisis struck the country in 1997. --Antara