Jakarta (ANTARA) - Head of the Poverty Eradication Agency (BP Taskin) Budiman Sudjatmiko named Kuningan Regency, West Java, as one of the regions that has successfully empowered the poor through green investment.

 

According to him, although Kuningan Regency has the second-highest poverty rate in West Java, the region has received recognition from the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN) for having the lowest rate of land conversion from agricultural to non-agricultural use.

 

"This is a paradox: while the community has not been lifted out of poverty, the environment has been saved, and that is actually what is interesting. The Regent of Kuningan has a vision of only accepting green investment, investment that does not damage the environment and is very minimal, so that investment is only in food and must be green. That is an interesting finding," he said in a discussion in Jakarta on Wednesday night.

 

He cited several examples of investments that Kuningan Regency could utilize, such as carbon trading, organic farming, or other investments that do not damage the environment while still utilizing technology.

 

Budiman also said that, on average, regional heads who had held hearings with BP Taskin had succeeded in moving away from the paradigm of alleviating poverty by reducing the burden of expenditure on the poor through direct cash assistance (BLT).

 

This does not mean that BLT has been eliminated, but rather that they have realized that BLT is not enough, he said.

 

They have accepted the approach offered, which is to promote industrialization that liberates the poor.

 

“So the approach is no longer affirmation, advocacy, or protection through BLT, social assistance, and so on, but rather they agree with our approach, industrialization that liberates the poor,” he said.

 

He emphasized that BP Taskin has been offering an approach to poverty alleviation through data by name and address, investment, and collaboration.

 

They agreed that poverty alleviation means encouraging investment with the aim of getting the poor to work or become entrepreneurs, not investment that simply displaces people or damages the environment.

 

“But there are conditions, namely that poor areas must receive investment capital, or the poor must work and become part of the business chain,” he explained.

 

Then, the next investment condition being promoted by BP Taskin is poverty alleviation through inclusive growth, which empowers the poor to work together to collaborate in order to escape poverty.

 

“The approach BP Taskin will take, which we call poverty alleviation through inclusive growth, means growing through inclusive economic activities together,” he said.

 

[SOURCE]