Gus Dur tells BKKBN to stop fudging population figures

Gus Dur tells BKKBN to stop fudging population figures

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid warned officials of
the National Family Planning Board (BKKBN) on Tuesday to stop
manipulating population figures merely to please the country's
leaders.

Abdurrahman, known as Gus Dur, decried the practice and said
it would only worsen the country's population situation in the
future.

Speaking during the opening of the board's four-day working
meeting, the President said he was confused by the board's claim
that the birthrate continued to drop when the country's real
population growth was higher than the government's official
figure.

"I want you to give the real figures even though they may
hurt, because it will be much better than hiding the facts until
it is too late to improve the situation."

The President recounted his trip to Semarang on Saturday and
said his daughter told him that thousands of children greeted him
along the route. He said it disproved the official claims of a
falling birthrate.

"The government says the family planning program is very
successful, but the facts show that women continue having
babies," he said with a grin.

His concern over misleading data from the board was seemingly
borne out in the behavior of its officials, who before the
ceremony distributed copies of what they said was the President's
speech.

Journalists were skeptical because the President, due to his
poor eyesight, does not usually have a prepared text.

The officials later described the six-page text as pointers
for his speech.

Abdurrahman said that he often doubted many of the statistics
issued by the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) and BKKBN.

He said the manipulation of figures should be stopped because
the people would be the ultimate victims.

"National family planning programs must be developed with
honesty even though it may be resented," the President said.

State Minister of the Emancipation of Women Khofifah Indar
Parawansa, who is also in charge of the family planning board,
said in her report to the President that the country's population
was expected to double in 40 years from the current 206 million,
given the steady growth rate of 1.54 percent.

She also expressed concern at the increasing number of
abortions performed in the country. She vowed to reduce the
number of unwanted pregnancies in a bid to halt abortions.

"In relations to this, male participation (in family planning)
must improve," Khofifah said. (prb)