Malang, (malangkota.go.id) – The Malang City Government (Pemkot) through the Regional Development Planning Agency (Bappeda) held a regional coordination meeting (rakorda) for the elderly (lansia) in the Mini Block Office hall of Malang City Hall, Wednesday (8/12/2021).
Deputy Mayor of Malang Ir. H. Sofyan Edi Jarwoko emphasized that the Malang City Government is committed to realizing inclusive development that also supports and involves the elderly in development.
"As many as 6,76 percent of the population of Malang City are elderly and of course the hope is that every program for the elderly can be right on target," said Bung Edi, Sofyan Edi Jarwoko's nickname.
Mr. Edi noted that there is still a gap between regions in terms of the quality of the elderly database that must continue to be narrowed. Infrastructure, parks, city transportation, health services, and so on should be the concern of every level of the Malang City Government to be elderly-friendly.
"I invite all members to actively improve cooperation and collaboration up to the RT/RW level in the remaining term of office. These two things are determining factors for optimizing the implementation of the program so far," said Bung Edi who also serves as the Chairperson of the Regional Commission (Komda) for the Elderly in Malang City.
The Malang City Elderly Commission is a collaborative institution formed based on the Decree of the Mayor of Malang Number 188.45/27/35.73.112/2021 to coordinate the formulation of policies, strategies, programs, activities and to monitor and evaluate their implementation.
Meanwhile, Head of Bappeda Malang City Dwi Rahayu SH., M.Hum in his report said that this coordination meeting was held in order to coordinate and evaluate the elderly development program. "One thing that still needs to be considered is the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the elderly and how we respond," said Dwi.
Present as a resource person was Dra. Endang Kastutik from the East Java Provincial Social Service. In her presentation, Endang hoped that the coordination meeting could produce a proposal formulation that is oriented towards realizing resilient elderly people.
"A healthy elderly person or group (physically, socially and mentally) is active, productive and independent. We need to position the elderly as subjects of development with a rights-based approach, not just empathy," said Endang.
This coordination meeting was attended by approximately 40 representatives of the elderly and regional apparatus who are members of the Elderly Regional Committee. (ndu/ram)
