Indonesia Population Explosion Bad For Environment

Bernama 28 Mar 11;

BATAM, Indonesia, March 28 (Bernama) -- Uncontrollable population explosion will have a negative impact on the environment, Head of National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) Sugiri Syarief said here on Monday.

"Demographers and environmentalists often use the term ecological suicide to link population explosion to the environmental problems," Sugiri Syarief was quoted by Antara news agency as saying after opening a consultation forum on 2011 All Indonesia Population and Family Planning Programmes.

He explained that a total population of 237.6 million people in Indonesia at present has caused a lot of problems related to garbage, flood, and even traffic jam.

"Not to mention the difficulty of access to clean water, air, and other climate change issues. Then we can imagine what happens if the population continues to grow to reach 500 million people," Sugiri said.

He said it was possible for the population to grow if the government failed to suppress the rate of population increase.

"In the past ten years the the population has increased by 1.49 percent to 32.7 million to be equal to the number of population in Canada and more than that of Malaysia," he said.

Sugiri added that if the population growth remained at 1.49 percent then it was predicted that in 2045 the population would reach 450 million people.

-- BERNAMA

Population explosion bad for environment
Antara 28 Mar 11;

Batam, Riau Islands Province (ANTARA News) - Uncontrollable population explosion will have a negative impact on the environment, Head of National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) Sugiri Syarief said here on Monday.

"Demographers and environmentalists often use the term ecological suicide to link population explosion to the environmental problems," Sugiri Syarief said after opening a consultation forum on 2011 All Indonesia Population and Family Planning Programs.

He explained that a total population of 237.6 million people in Indonesia at present has caused a lot of problems related to garbage, flood, and even traffic jam.

"Not to mention the difficulty of access to clean water, air, and other climate change issues. Then we can imagine what happens if the population continues to grow to reach 500 million people," Sugiri said.

He said it was possible for the population to grow if the government failed to suppress the rate of population increase.

"In the past ten years the the population has increased by 1.49 percent to 32.7 million to be equal to the number of population in Canada and more than that of Malaysia," he said.

Sugiri added that if the population growth remained at 1.49 percent then it was predicted that in 2045 the population would reach 450 million people.
(Uu.O001/F001)

Editor: Priyambodo RH

Serious population boom threatens Indonesia
Antara 28 Mar 11;

Batam, Riau Islands (ANTARA News) - The National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) stated that the uncontrolled population boom could pose a serious threat to Indonesia due to its negative impacts on various sectors.

"The uncontrollable population growth can pose a serious threat and the outcome of an Indonesian population census in 2010 has clearly shown the signs of a population explosion," Head of the Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) Sugiri Syarief said here on Monday.

Sugiri Syarief made the statement after opening the 2011 Indonesian Population and Family Planning Consultation Programs here.

Sugiri said that the population boom might occur in Indonesia unless immediate efforts were made to suppress the population growth rate.

The recent Indonesian population growth reached 237.6 million with a growth rate of 1.49 percent.

"The number had also caused many problems in residential areas such as trash, flooding and traffic congestion not to mention the difficulty of access to clean water, air and climate change issues," he said.

According to Sugiri, the problem could become more complicated with the population boom.

"You can imagine what will happen if the population continues to grow and approach 500 million," he said.

He said that such situation might become a reality if the government did not suppress the population growth rate.

"Over the last ten years the population has increased to 32.7 million and an average growth of 1.49 percent, like in Canada and more than the population of Malaysia," he said.

If the population growth rate remains at 1.49 percent it can be predicted that by 2045 the population reached 450 million.

"At that time the world population is projected to be nine billion people whereas one in every 20 people in the world is Indonesian," he said.

It was necessary to suppress the population growth rate so as not to adversely affect the environment and revenue increase, he said.

"The high number of children will reduce the ability of human capital investment in the family, which will affect education and public health," he said.

On the other hand, a large population with low human resources would destroy the the quality of natural resources, he said. (*)

A050/H-NG/R013

Editor: Jafar M Sidik

Family Planning Board Meets With Indonesian Population Set to Soar
Jakarta Globe 28 Mar 11;

Batam, Riau Islands. With Indonesia’s population projected to double to 450 million by 2045, the National Family Planning Coordinating Board held a national meeting here on Monday to discuss its programs for 2011.

Sugiri Syarief, chairman of the board, also known as the (BKKBN), said it was hoped it would be able to complete a master plan to revitalize the family planning program to keep the population in check.

Quoting the results of the 2010 census, Sugiri recently said that if no effort was made to “curb population growth we will face a population boom in the next few years.”

He said by 2045, the population could hit 450 million, meaning that one of every 20 people in the world would be Indonesian.

Family planning efforts are widely regarded as having deteriorated since the downfall of former dictator Suharto.