President to Observe National Empowerment Program in Lombok

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to observe a national empowerment program for village people (PNPM-PM) in East Lombok district in June.

"We have received the notification and we are coordinating the preparations with the East Lombok district administration," spokesman of the West Nusatenggara provincial administration Ibnu Salim said on Thursday. The president wants to observe the program in East Lombok as it was widely seen as successful, he added

Based on data from the Central Bureau for Statistics (BPS), the number of poor people in the province was recorded at 1.12 million, and 289.062 poor families were in East Lombok district.

The project for infrastructure development in the district absorbed some 300,000 workers and some public facilities had been built, he said.

Meanwhile, the program had also served 2,180 families who needed credit totaling Rp2.11 billion.