Fewer in Jakarta living below poverty line: Governor

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo says the city’s economy is expanding at a healthy rate and the welfare of its citizens is improving, as shown by the reduced number of people living below the poverty line.

According to him, the economy expanded by 6.5 percent in the first nine months of the year thanks to increased levels of consumption, exports and investment.

The recent Jakarta census recorded 312,000 people, or 3.48 percent, of the population living below the poverty line, which is defined as living with less than US$1 a day, Fauzi said. The figure is less than the 323,000 in 2009 and the 379,000 in 2008.

Fauzi added that the city had improved health facilities such as general hospitals (RSUD) and community health centers (Puskesmas) in subdistricts and villages.

Ninety-seven percent of Puskesmas are up to the ISO 9001 standard, he said.

He said the city's free health services for the poor (Gakin) users have expanded, with 2.3 million using the facilities in 2009 and 2.5 million in 2010.

“We are targeting that there will be 2.7 million users served by the Gakin program in 2011," he said, as quoted from tempointeraktif.com.

“We will also add 6 subdistrict Puskesmas with inpatient facilities, and we will build a general hospital in South Jakarta,” he added.

In education, the graduation rate in elementary schools, junior high schools and high schools reached 99.5 percent in 2010.

To boost educational improvements, the administration has also allocated Rp 2.794 trillion (US$310.13 billion) in the provincial budget," he said.