BPS Data: Lowest Percentage Of Poor Population In Sawahlunto, West Sumatra In Indonesia

SAWAHLUNTO - The percentage of poor people in Sawahlunto City, West Sumatra in 2021 is set by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) as the lowest in Indonesia.

The Mayor of Sawahlunto, Deri Asta, said he had received a report from BPS Sawahlunto. According to the report, the percentage of poor people in the city is 2.38 percent.

"Alhamdulillah, BPS has released that nationally Sawahlunto is recorded as the city with the lowest percentage of poor people. So the percentage of poor people in other regencies/cities in Indonesia is above Sawahlunto," said Deri Asta, quoted by Antara, Wednesday, December 22.

The Poverty Depth Index in Sawahlunto is at 0.33 while the Poverty Severity Index is at 0.06.

"The success of getting the lowest percentage of poor people in Indonesia is the fruit of the commitment of the Sawahlunto City Government in carrying out poverty alleviation programs. It is also inseparable from the support of all parties who have worked for hand in hand in dealing with poverty," he said.

Efforts to reduce poverty are one of the focuses of the City Government so that it is included in the priorities that have been translated into the RPJMD.

"We continue to continue various poverty alleviation programs, then in 2020, we emphasize to the ranks of village heads to allocate the Village Fund Budget (ADD) for poverty reduction. Each village allocates a minimum of 10 poor families, allocated assistance for economic empowerment programs. Later the type of productive assistance will be may be adjusted to the ability of the recipient of assistance, for example, livestock assistance, or it could be business development,” he explained.

The mayor said the program was directly controlled by the City Poverty Reduction Team, which contained all Sawahlunto Regional Apparatus Organizations (OPD). implementation of activities/programs can give special attention to poor families.

According to him, Pemko Sawahlunto is carrying out poverty alleviation by touching a number of fields, not only the economy but also education, health, and others.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Regional Planning, Research, and Development Agency (Barenlitbangda) Sawahlunto, Lelis Efriyenti, said that the Pemko program in touching poor families includes providing productive economic assistance, freeing medical expenses through BPJS, scholarships, school uniform assistance, and house rehabilitation assistance. uninhabitable.

"In terms of the productive economy of agriculture, there is assistance for chickens, goats, and ducks. For plant seeds, there are also breadfruit, mangosteen, and areca nut. Meanwhile, in the industrial sector, there are also looms, candlenut breaking tools, and others. For poor families who need to develop their businesses, it is also facilitated with the assistance of Beginner Entrepreneurs, Joint Business Groups (KUBE), and UPTD Revolving Funds," he explained.

Meanwhile, the Coordinator of the Statistical Function of the Regional Balance and Statistical Analysis of the BPS Sawahlunto City, Des Evaria said that in measuring poverty his party used the concept of ability to meet basic needs. Poverty is seen as an inability on the economic side to meet basic food and non-food needs as measured from the expenditure side.

"In 2021, BPS set the poverty line (GK) for Sawahlunto City is people with a minimum expenditure of Rp412,757 per month," he said.