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Officials Scramble to Defuse Jakarta’s Population Bomb
Dofa Fasila | December 29, 2011

A man receives a free vasectomy at a mobile family planning clinic in Cilincing, North Jakarta, in March. The city is trying to slow population growth through a host of family planning programs. (JG Photo/Yudhi Sukma Wijaya) A man receives a free vasectomy at a mobile family planning clinic in Cilincing, North Jakarta, in March. The city is trying to slow population growth through a host of family planning programs. (JG Photo/Yudhi Sukma Wijaya)
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DrDez
8:50am Dec 31, 2011

NRN

The BTF program has significant benefits for the govt.

1.Send millions of mainly young women away and not only abdicate responsibility for them but take a % in fees + it brings in billions of dollars. Legalised money laundering that BI turns yet another blind eye to.

2. Jobs they don't have to create for the 6 million plus each year entering job market (short term benefit)

3. Millions of families get cash making it easier for the govt

4. Social control via Islam and the endgame of RII perhaps

5. They can make positive press by saving a convicted murderer from death.. The caring face of govt?? (spits)

Of course with the lack of education/opportunity the BTF also provides desperately needed cash to many of the nations poorest.

Remember SBY's promise to create 6 million jobs to stop these exploited people having to go? Nope cannot say I have seen anything

6. A rapidly growing population ensures GDP growth - thus we can say hey look at us even in depression we grow.. gimmie gimmie

nonredneck
12:32am Dec 31, 2011

Happy inspiring 2012 to all. Pls keep up the hope, & pls love our dear mommy earth in the process, though she don't think like we human do SHE KNOWS! coz when she's not happy with what we do, she'll flip out BIG-TIME & more often.

nonredneck
12:20am Dec 31, 2011

everybody else in their village received money remittance from their kids in saudi (safer bet). In this case 1unit-of-child = potentially-very-costly-bet with uncertain/unknown gain. Hence breed-to-feed is the more popular choice. I'm not saying that these people consciously choose one or the other form of kid-investment nor do they understand the economics at work behind this, but all these is the result of subconscious doing influenced by heavily blocked-up mind [upbringing, community, situation, beliefs, culture, tradition, bad-habits] >> breaking lose of all these requires much internal struggles, nor do they understand why they should if that also includes resisting family nagings & renouncing religous belief. Solution to this: try to inspire as many ppl as we can wherever we go, whoever we encounter, let them do the questioning themselves. The root of all problems in Indo is human, & the real solution to Indo's many problems is also the human.

nonredneck
12:20am Dec 31, 2011

DD: I think many factors influence this popularity, maybe u can share more with us what u think. But if I'm to choose 1, I'll say lack of inspiration. U've read I mention before: lack of dream, lack of hope, lack of self-reliance, inability to think for oneself w/o being attached to either tradition/culture/community/beliefs, defeatist & pacifism attitude, surrender to "destiny". Having these kind of mindset leading a poorer household to see each children as economic life-line, hence when 1unit-of-child = $value-of-potential-gain, it's only logical to maximize production. On the other hand a poor household with the ability to ignore what their in-laws want, have much hope for their kids' future, &that destiny is changeable will automatically opt for children's highest education instead of working them on family farm. When resources r very limited, putting all investment in few child is a risky one, at least to them this is unknown, because

DrDez
7:23pm Dec 30, 2011

NRN - why is the breed to feed program so popular in Indonesia?? I refer you to point 2... Have kids send them away to work (maids/factories/sex) ergo easy life for dad... (edit) disgusts me..


Jakarta has launched an ambitious family planning program to reduce the number of births as the capital feels the effects of overpopulation.

Jakarta, home to about 9.6 million people, faces a host of problems from pollution and traffic to struggling education and health care systems, all of which are made worse by its massive population.

Asep Syarifudin, head of the Jakarta Community Empowerment Agency, said the immediate goal was to keep population growth in the capital below 10 percent next year.

“We are optimistic because the TFR [total fertility rate] in Jakarta is continuing to decline each year, so the number of births should go down as well,” he said.

According to a yearly national health survey carried out by the government, Jakarta’s TFR in 2007 was 2.1, meaning that each household has an average of two to three children.

This year, Jakarta has a TFR of 1.9, far lower than the national average of 2.6. But the city wants to get it even lower and is aiming for 1.8 next year.

Asep said that so far only 501,787 people had joined the family planning program, a majority of them women who had agreed to take birth control pills.

As many as 37,000 men had received vasectomies as part of the program, he said.

“We have done lots of things to bring in new participants. We have prepared all the facilities necessary to provide free family planning,” he said.

The Jakarta government earmarked Rp 12 billion ($1.3 million) this year for the program and established partnerships with a number of state and private hospitals and health clinics.

Jakarta, Asep said, has set up 243 support groups in the city and 241 information and counseling centers that aim to educate teenagers about reproductive health and birth control.

“If we can reduce the TFR to 1.8 by 2012 and keep it that way then our midterm development goal of suppressing growth can be achieved,” he said.

Population control programs were widely enforced during the three decades under the rule of President Suharto, but they quickly fell out of favor after the dictator was forced to resign by a popular student movement in May 1998.

Experts say that urgent steps need to be taken to revitalize family planning programs because they are central to controlling the population.

The segment of the Indonesian population older than 60 accounted for 21.4 million people in 2010 and is expected to reach 73.5 million in 2050, meaning the country could face a double population burden.

Experts also have warned that without proper incomes and health insurance, many families will not have the resources to fulfill their basic needs.

More than 90 percent of Indonesians say they fully understand the importance and benefits of contraception, yet only 64 percent use it, according to the National Family Planning Coordinating Board.