Urban poor 'left out' of poverty programs

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Settlement and Regional Development Erna Witoelar lamented on Thursday that poverty alleviation programs in the country continued to overlook the urban poor.

"Most government programs, such as micro-credit schemes and other aid programs, are focused on rural areas and seem to ignore the urban areas," she said.

Speaking during a high-level discussion forum on poverty alleviation on Thursday, Erna appealed for greater consideration for residents of urban slums.

The discussion brought together government officials, executives from the Asian Development Bank, non-governmental organizations and experts to formulate and integrate a common policy for poverty alleviation.

The region-wide economic contagion which first struck Indonesia in 1997 has doubled the number of poor in the country.

The most recent statistics showed that by 1998, there were an estimated 37.5 million poor, or about 17.5 percent of the total population.

The Asian Development Bank's poverty assessment reported that almost 70 percent of the poor lived in rural areas.

Although the focus on rural assistance may appear justified, Erna stressed that programs in urban areas have proven insufficient.

Much of the assistance also failed to properly address the needs of the urban poor.

"For example, one donor agency had a program for clean water and sanitation. The end result was that the people had toilets which were much better than their homes."

She said the government's policy of providing low-cost housing was another well-intentioned program but which ultimately missed its main goal of assisting the needy.

Erna said the houses were built too far from the work places of most of the people and they remained costly.

"These people cannot afford the housing and the sites are located too deep in the suburbs. The people end up having to spend more money for transportation to their work place."

She said most of the successful programs to alleviate poverty were in rural areas, but more consideration should be accorded the urban poor.

"I think it's about time we consider more urban areas," she said. (04)