Family planning campaign to continue<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): On the eve of the birth of Indonesia's 200
\nmillionth person, State Minister of Population Haryono Suyono
\nappealed to the nation to maintain the drive to curtail
\npopulation growth through family planning.<\/p>\n
"We have to greet the arrival of the 200 millionth baby and
\nother babies that follow as a new source of development
\nstrength," Haryono, who also chairs the National Family Planning
\nBoard, said yesterday in a seminar on population development.<\/p>\n
This in turn would determine the success of the country's
\nfuture development, he added.<\/p>\n
He warned that in spite of the success of the national family
\nplanning program, Indonesia's population would continue to
\nincrease, probably reaching 260 million by 2119.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's population tops the psychological barrier of 200
\nmillion today, according to government estimates.<\/p>\n
To mark the occasion, President Soeharto has agreed to confer
\nawards on selected babies born today. He is also to name one of
\nthe babies.<\/p>\n
Several provinces vying for the honor have come up with
\nsuggested names. North Sumatra is proposing Duta Rizki Putera for
\na boy or Duta Rizki Puteri for a girl. East Java suggested Rahmat
\nNugraha and Rahmi Utami and Central Sulawesi suggested Rahmat and
\nRahmatillah.<\/p>\n
The Office of the State Minister of Population plans to select
\nmore than 8,000 of the babies born today across the 27 provinces
\nto receive awards as "role models" for other babies and families.<\/p>\n
To qualify, the babies and their parents must meet certain
\ncriteria. The baby must be born to legally married parents; the
\nmother must be more than 20 years old; it must be the first or
\nsecond living child in the family; if it is a second child there
\nmust be at least a three-year gap with the previous child as a
\nresult of the mother using contraceptives; the mother must have
\nreceived regular gynecological advice and the baby must be born
\ninto a family from a good social background in terms of both
\neducation and income.<\/p>\n
Haryono said the national family planning program that began
\nin 1969 has cut Indonesia's annual population growth rate from
\n2.32 percent in 1971-1980, to 1.6 percent today.<\/p>\n
Had the growth rate continued at the level it was in the
\n1970s, the population would be 217 million today and the 200-
\nmillion mark would have been passed in 1991, he said.<\/p>\n
He recalled an even more frightening scenario imagined by the
\nlate demographer, Prof. Dr. Iskandar, who once suggested that
\nIndonesia's population would reach 280 million in the year 2000.<\/p>\n
The cut in the population growth rate has been achieved even
\nthough Indonesia's death rate has declined faster than
\nanticipated.<\/p>\n
"The ability to curtail population growth by almost 17 million
\nin 25 years is a great success," the minister said.<\/p>\n
"This means that we have managed to reduce the 'burden'
\nrepresented by the number of people below 25 years old by 17
\nmillion. This number exceeds the population of Central
\nKalimantan, or Sulawesi and Maluku combined, or almost twice
\nJakarta's population," he said.<\/p>\n
Haryono said the success meant reducing a large chunk of the
\ngovernment's burden by having to provide 17 million fewer people
\nwith basic health care, access to education, jobs, food and drink
\nand other facilities.<\/p>\n
The huge financial saving also meant more money was available
\nto provide better facilities for the existing population, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Haryono said the slowing of the population growth rate is
\nexpected to lead to "balanced growth" by 2005, or 2010 at the
\nlatest.<\/p>\n
This in turn is expected to lead to a zero-growth Indonesian
\npopulation, as envisaged by the United Nations and the World
\nBank, by the middle of the 21st century, when the population is
\nestimated to stabilize at 350 million. (12\/emb)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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