Provinces told to be active in fighting poverty

JAKARTA (JP): Each province will be responsible for poverty alleviation in its area when the Law on Regional Autonomy takes effect next year, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare and Poverty Eradication Basri Hasanuddin said on Friday.

Under a new program called decentralized poverty reduction, local governments, in cooperation with non-governmental organizations, will take the initiative in planning and implementing programs to reduce the number of people living in poverty in their jurisdictions.

"The new paradigm makes local governments and NGOs active participants in the nationwide poverty alleviation program," Basri said while introducing the program to officials from 22 ministries.

He said each province would have to determine a timetable, depending on its capabilities, to meet its poverty alleviation targets. The time frame needed by provinces to achieve the goals of the program is estimated at between 10 and 25 years.

The program will allow each region to set its own definition of poverty and introduce its own policies to deal with the problem, he said.

Basri, who recently replaced Hamzah Haz in the post, noted that the new program would reduce the central government's role in poverty alleviation to that of concept-maker and counselor.

"This will create a competitive climate among provincial governments to reduce poverty in their territories," he said.

The government plans to move forward the enactment of the 1999 Law on Regional Autonomy and Fiscal Balance Between the Central Government and Local Governments, originally scheduled for 2001, following calls of separatism and federalism across the country.

"It makes sense that greater authority will give local governments greater responsibility in handling the issue of poverty," Basri said.

He said local governments were advised to enhance the income of local residents in order to allow them to allocate more funds in their budgets for people's welfare.

Increase

The economic crisis has led to an increase in the number of poor people in the country, from 22 million when the crisis hit in 1997 to 38 million in 1998, according to the Bureau of Statistics.

Basri predicted this number would continue to increase because unemployment in the country had reached 18 million according to the most recent data.

"This office can only contribute to the rescue program by distributing social safety net funds; to solve the problem each region should find its own method," he said.

The government allocated Rp 5.6 trillion in its current budget to poverty alleviation. The government's efforts targeted people living in slum areas, underdeveloped villages and isolated and resettlement areas.

Basri stressed the importance of gathering and updating data on the number of people living in poverty in each region.

The decentralized poverty eradication program is being supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

ADB has suggested the implementation of a microfinance program, in which poor communities would help themselves in overcoming poverty. (04)