Soeharto outlines poverty alleviation plan

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto outlined yesterday a detailed course of action the country should pursue to combat poverty, calling for partnership between big and small enterprises and cooperatives.

Soeharto chaired yesterday the first limited cabinet meeting on poverty alleviation, and decided to hold the meeting every three months.

Coordinating Minister for Production and Distribution Hartarto and Minister of Information Harmoko said Soeharto underlined the need for better management of credits for small and medium enterprises.

"Credits should also be managed efficiently so that they reach the deserving parties... (and) don't become overdue," Soeharto was quoted by Hartarto as saying.

The President also instructed the ministries of industry and trade, cooperatives, and the office of the Minister of Investment to encourage supermarkets in Indonesia's 240 regencies to cooperate with small and medium enterprises and cooperatives.

Soeharto instructed the National Development Planning Board to create a system to ensure that small and medium enterprises can compete in development project bids.

The President regularly holds a monthly cabinet meeting on economic affairs. Coordinating ministers for economy and finance, for production and distribution, and for people's welfare hold separate preparatory meetings beforehand.

Yesterday's meeting, which lasted for four and a half hours, was "proof of the government's seriousness in combating poverty," Harmoko said.

The cabinet meeting also agreed to urge big companies to provide special vocational training for job seekers.

"If each big company trains 100 people annually, it will be very helpful in stepping up the quality of our human resources," said Hartarto.

He said great progress had been made in reducing the number of people living below the poverty line. "It significantly dropped from 25.9 million (13.7 percent) to 22.5 million (11.3 percent) in 1996," he said.

The government launched a special poverty alleviation program in 1994 for least-developed villages, called the Presidential Aid for Least-Developed Villages (IDT), in which each poor village received Rp 20 million (US$8,390). In this fiscal year, the government has allocated Rp 479 billion to 22 least-developed villages.

President Soeharto also established the Dana Sejahtera Mandiri Foundation, which received funds from conglomerates. The foundation provides subsidized loans for poor families. (06)