Tangerang population to triple

TANGERANG (JP): The population of Tangerang mayoralty, currently home to 1.3 million people, will triple to between three and four million residents in the year 2010, Mayor Mochammad Thamrin said, quoting the World Bank's estimates on Thursday.

The prediction, he said was made by the WB based on average population growth rate of 8.27 percent per year in the mayoralty between 1990 and 1993.

The bank also based its estimate on the escalating inflow of new residents from various cities and towns, including Jakarta, to the mayoralty, Thamrin said.

According to the mayoralty's spokesman Said Endrawiyanto, Tangerang is now home to at least 3,000 industries with a strong labor force of 250,000 people. (41/ylt)