Jakarta, Feb. 25 -- Housing and Settlement Areas Minister Maruarar Sirait has called for a more integrated approach to handling slum areas, emphasizing that physical improvements must be complemented by welfare-oriented economic programs.

"We have been too focused on physically upgrading slum areas without improving residents' living standards, which allows them to revert to slum conditions within three to four years," he said in a statement released in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Sirait stressed that economic empowerment programs are essential to ensure that residents of slum areas are not only able to survive but also to improve their livelihoods sustainably.

He announced plans to begin shifting the slum management approach in Jambi and Ce...