Southwest Papua (ANTARA) – The provincial government of Southwest Papua has decided to address extreme poverty in all its territories through the Paitua program.The Paitua program is an old age social security intended for the elderly population, acting Governor of Southwest PapuaMuhammad Musa’ad said here on Friday.

“Thus, for parents over the age of 65 years, the government will provide Rp250 thousand in cash every month,” he informed.

ccording to Musa’ad, this action will be undertaken since the government has aresponsibility for addressing poverty, which has been prevalent throughout this time.

Thus, the government has decided that a strategic step is necessary through programs for handling poverty.

One of the factors behind extreme poverty in Southwest Papua is the fact that family culture is held in high esteem in the province, he said.

“Usually, within a single family, parents of the two couples live together in a single house, which puts a major burden on the couple,” he explained.

To address the poverty issue, he conveyed the goal of the program to all district heads and mayors so that they can implement the Paitua program in every region.

budget will be provided for the program to support the reduction in the poverty rate.

“We will prepare an adequate budget and district heads/mayors should prepare the funds so that we can work together and synergize to reduce poverty,” Musa’ad said.

Earlier, the provincial government also committed to expediting the handling of malaria cases, which are still rampant in the province, through the mosquito nets provision program.

Mosquito nets will be distributed to each malaria endemic area, the head of health services at the Southwest Papua Health Office, Susan Wanane, said here on Wednesday.

Source: Antara News Agency