Population hard to control

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: The local government conceded yesterday that its efforts to check population growth has not brought about the expected results.

Chief of the provincial population office Yoeswantoro said that the failure to control the population growth rate is largely due to people's low participation in the state-sponsored family planning program.

"Every mother here has an average of four children, while we have been encouraging them to have only two," Yoeswantoro told The Jakarta Post.

He added, however, that residents' awareness of the need to take part in the family planning program has improved over the past several years. (pan)