Eastern region's population growing too fast: Report

Eastern region's population growing too fast: Report

By Deborah Cameron

JAKARTA (JP): New research by Indonesian and Australian
demographers has found that the population of Indonesia's poorest
region is expected to grow by 48 percent by 2020, presenting
planning problems and major economic challenges for Indonesia.

A report released last week in Jakarta called People, Land and
Sea -- Development Challenges in eastern Indonesia, says that
infrastructure, environmental protection, the human resource base
and job opportunities all need to improve to cope with predicted
population growth.

Prepared by the Indonesia-Australia Population-Related
Research for Development Planning and Development Assistance
Project, the 174-page report is the collaborative effort of
senior demographers from both countries funded by AusAID.

It recommends changes to Indonesia's criteria for allocating
development funding and questions central government policies
which hold back development.

The report says that development funds should be given on the
basis of "unexploited regional potential" and not provincial
population size, a change that would deter provinces such as
Maluku and Irian Jaya from seeking larger populations without
considering sustainability.

The authors say that accelerated population growth results
from the positive developments of improved health care and
lowered mortality. But this has resulted in a state of dynamic
disequilibrium. In terms of population and development,
"maintenance of the status quo is not an option," the report
says.

"Changes are occurring and will inevitably occur in all
aspects of life, and managing them in the interests of maximizing
welfare is the challenge facing planners."

The report underlines what it describes as the "basic problem"
of central government policies holding back regional development
and cites as an example of policies that govern the processing of
tree crops which, in effect, tax producers at source and protect
the interest of consumers, largely in Java.

"Thus copra has to be processed by coconut oil producers in
Java, and rattan may not be processed at source but instead must
be sent to Surabaya," the report says.

There are also central government policies restricting the
sale of coffee, rubber and cloves, all of which harm local
economies.

eastern Indonesia has a key need for dedicated government
officials to be located where their services are needed and the
report recommends provisions to encourage transfers by public
servants and hardship allowances for teachers, doctors and
nurses.

It also recommends that international air and sea links be
opened to the region and that tourism investment be encouraged.

"The development of eastern Indonesia has a great deal to do
with its international relations," the report says.

"Its slow development to date has much to do with its status
as 'the end of the line', isolated from Jakarta and with few
international contacts until recent times. Potentially though, it
is a gateway to the world, lying in close proximity to Australia,
Papua New Guinea and the Philippines."

People, Land and Sea is a collaboration between the Center for
Population and Manpower Studies at the Indonesian Academy of
Sciences (PPT-LIPI) and the Demography Program Research School of
Social Sciences at the Australian National University. The
project is funded by the Australian Agency for International
Development, AusAID.

The five provinces of eastern Indonesia -- Nusa Tenggara
Barat, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Timor Timur, Maluku and Irian Jaya --
have a current population of 12 million people spread over a
landscape that varies from dense jungle to dry slopes. The
provinces also include some of the archipelago's most fragile
ecosystems.

The report editors were the coordinator of the demography
program at ANU, professor Gavin Jones, and the director of the
Center for Population and Manpower Studies at LIPI, Dr. Yulfita
Raharjo.

AusAID, the official Australian government aid agency,
annually provides about A$130 million in development assistance
to Indonesia.