Ganjar: Great But Still Poor NTT Resources, Countries Must Protect

Presidential Candidate number 3 Ganjar Pranowo while at the San Pedro Kupang University, NTT, Friday (1/12/2023). ANTARA/Narda Margaretha Sinambela.

Presidential candidate number 3 Ganjar Pranowo said resources in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) were abundant, but there was still a lot of poverty there.

"NTT has great resources, but we are far below the remote area. What can we do? There is a lot of poverty going on here," said Ganjar at the University of San Pedro, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) as reported by ANTARA, Friday, December 1.

Nevertheless, he revealed that poverty is still trapping Central Java. According to him, the provision of assistance can be done, but cannot be done continuously.

"Will we choose then to provide strategic assistance? The answer is okay and yes, but is it continuous? Of course not," he said.

"So those who can't work are seniors, our parents have retired and can't afford it, their families can't afford it, so it's a country that has to take over, a country that must protect," he continued.

Ganjar also said that the government must provide access to proper education for the underprivileged. The reason is, education can change the status of the poor.

"I imagine my friends, if we make a pilot district in Indonesia, just one school for the poor, let's move poverty alleviation from the start," concluded Ganjar.

Previously, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) of East Nusa Tenggara Province recorded that the number of poor people in NTT recorded as of March 2023 was 1,141,110 people, an increase of 9,500 people compared to March 2022.

"The number of poor people increased by 9,500 people as of March 2023. An increase in the poor population occurred in urban areas of 0.28 percent, while rural areas decreased by 0.1 percent," Head of BPS Matamira Province B Kale in Kupang, Monday, (17/7/2023).

This is related to the development of poverty levels in the NTT Province which was updated as of March 2023.

He explained that although the number of poor people in urban areas increased, the composition of the poor in NTT was dominated in rural areas, namely 23.76 percent, while urban areas were 9.12 percent.

Matamira explained that the problem of poverty is not just how much the poor population is, but another dimension that needs to be considered is the level of depth which indicates the average distance between spending the poor on the poverty line.

In addition, it is also related to the poverty severity index which indicates inequality in spending among the poor.

In NTT, he said, the poverty depth index in March 2023 decreased to 3.326 compared to March 2022 of 3.632.

Meanwhile, the poverty severity index decreased from 0.340 in March 2022 to 0.270 in March 2023.