If Everyone Is Called Kayo, Then Who Is Poor in Full River?

The unique thing when we are at the Full River is that everyone is called Kayo. In everyday Jambi language, the word Kayo means rich. KBBI also states that being rich is having a lot of wealth. Then, does it mean that all the people of Full River are rich? Sungai Full, the City with the Lowest Poverty in Jambi Province This assumption is not entirely wrong, based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) for Sungai Penuh City, the percentage of poor people in Sungai Penuh City is the smallest in Jambi Province, namely 3.41 percent in 2021. Jambi Province itself has a percentage of poor people of 8.09%. Even though it is the smallest in Jambi, it does not make the Sungai Penuh City Government satisfied. Alvia Santoni, Deputy Mayor and Chair of the Poverty Reduction Coordination Team (TKPK) for Sungai Penuh City, explained that the Sungai Penuh City Government targets the poverty rate in 2022 to be 2.97%. In the TKPK meeting on August 2, 2022, the Deputy Mayor stated that valid and accurate data is very important to "encircle" the remaining poor people in Sungai Penuh with various policy mixes. So who exactly is said to be poor?

So Who's Poor?

According to BPS, the poor are people whose expenditures are below the poverty line. The poverty line itself is the minimum amount of rupiah needed to meet basic food and non-food needs obtained from the National Socio-Economic Survey (Susenas). The poverty line of Sungai Penuh City in 2021 is 426,380/person/month. If the average number of household members in Sungai Penuh is 3.8 people, then the poverty line for one household is IDR 1,620,244/household/month. BPS notes that there are 3,030 poor people in Sungai Penuh City. The next question is where do the 3,030 poor people live? This cannot be answered with macro poverty data released by BPS. Data on the poor by name by address can only be accessed through the Integrated Data for Social Welfare (DTKS) which is managed by the Ministry/Social Service. Kuswan Gunanto, Head of BPS Kota Sungai Penuh, in the TKPK meeting said that BPS poverty data can only be used to plan and evaluate macro policies. Meanwhile, data on micro poverty, which is intended for social assistance and protection, must be carried out in a census and updated regularly.

So that All Become Kayo

Poverty in Sungai Penuh City is relatively small in number, but the number has increased by 250 people compared to 2020. The increase in the poverty rate is not in line with the decline in the unemployment rate which has fallen drastically compared to 2020. The unemployment rate for Sungai Penuh City in 2021 is 2.99%, while in 2020 it was 5.55%. This can be an indication that the workers' wages/salaries/surplus are not sufficient to meet their basic needs. Therefore, the government must make policies such as subsidies for fertilizers and seeds, capital assistance, business loans, entrepreneurship training, improving the skills of workers, and health insurance. All of these policies must of course be accompanied by the availability of accurate macro and micro poverty data so that the programs that have been designed are right on target and effective. To realize accurate data, the role of all stakeholders and the community is needed. In the end, we all hope that all Sungai Penuh people can be called Kayo in the truest sense.