SOEs Of The Ministry Of Finance SMF Turn Slum Areas In Pandeglang Into Habitable

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

The Special mission vehicle (SMV) of the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu), PT Sarana Multigriya Finansial (SMF), is said to be disbursing a state budget of Rp1.28 billion to fix slum areas in Teluk Pandeglang Village, Banten into habitable settlements.

President Director of SMF Ananta Wiyogo said this initiative was part of the Social and Environmental Responsibility Grant (TJSL) which was channeled through the Community Empowerment Agency (BKM). According to him, the execution in the field will involve the local district government and the Ministry of PUPR.

"This is a sustainable development goal (SDG) launched by the government regarding the development of cities and settlements as a concrete step to eradicate slum houses and extreme poverty," he said in a written statement, Tuesday, July 18.

Ananta explained that Pandeglang became the 18th city out of 21 locations in collaboration with SMF in improving slum areas. In addition, the surrounding area, namely Labuan, also has the potential as a transportation node that serves the district scale.

"The strategic values of this area include the Labuan II PLTU, the West Coast of the Sunda Strait, the Pandeglang Kadungejo Corridor area, and the Labuan Panimbang Corridor Area," he said.

Ananta hopes that the community can make the best use of the assistance by continuing to maintain and care for their homes so that they can provide long-term benefits both from social and economic.

Similarly, Deputy I of the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture Nunung Nuryartono stated that the rehabilitation of residential areas to be livable is very important in fighting poverty. He assessed that the other multiplier effect that arises is having leverage to increase income.

"Synergy of all parties can accelerate the elimination of extreme poverty, such as reducing people's burdens, increasing income strategies, and poverty bag reduction strategies," he said.

Nunung explained that data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) stated that extreme poverty in Pandeglang Regency in March 2022 was 1.82 percent.

The problems faced by the phenomenon of extreme poverty are multidimensional problems. The extreme poor with very low income constraints are often difficult to access food, board, clothing, health facilities, educational facilities, clean water sources, decent sanitation and economic access," he said.

To note, until the first semester of 2023, SMF has realized a program to improve the quality of houses in slum areas, a total of 398 houses with an absorption of a budget of IDR 28.7 billion in 21 Indonesian cities.