Wearing Dayaknese costumes, five young women posing cheerfully in Semolon waterfall, Malinau regency, North Kalimantan. Image credit: Yansen Tipa Padan
By Mr KalEng
“THERE has been a tendency, in many villages, mothers can’t get pregnant. We have no idea whether it is caused by some types of medications or due to other causes, and they can’t conceive anymore,” Yansen Tipa Padan, Regent of Malinau, North Kalimantan province, said in an interview with Sindonews.
“Ada kecenderungan di sejumlah desa, ibu-ibunya tidak hamil lagi. Kami tidak tahu apakah karena obat atau karena apa, tapi mereka tidak bisa hamil lagi,” kata Yansen Tipa Padan, Bupati Malinau, Kalimantan Utara, dalam sebuah wawancara dengan Sindonews.
When it comes to population growth rate, Malinau regency has been facing a completely different problem than many other Indonesia’s regions have.
Dalam hal tingkat pertumbuhan penduduk, Malinau dihadapkan pada masalah yang berbeda dibanding masalah yang dimiliki banyak daerah lain di Indonesia.
Malinau is experiencing (severe) underpopulation. The government recorded no growth in several villages and subdistricts.
Pertumbuhan penduduk di Malinau memang sangat rendah. Di beberapa desa dan kecamatan, tidak ada pertumbuhan samasekali.
“There had been a subdistrict that was inhabited by 1,700 people, and surprisingly, there’s almost no growth over the last 20 years,” said Mr Yansen.
“Ada kecamatan yang dulu penduduknya 1.700, dan ternyata belakangan diketahui angka itu nyaris tidak berubah selama 20 tahun belakangan,” ujar Yansen.
In Mentarang subdistrict, 13 uninhabited, empty villages were merged into a village named Mentarang Baru.
Di kecamatan Mentarang, sebanyak 13 desa yang kosong digabungkan menjadi sebuah desa bernama Mentarang Baru.
Mr Yansen certainly knows alot about Malinau’s population, because long before he becomes a regent he was once a head of subdistrict three times in a row: Mentarang (1993), Kayan Ilir (1996) and Peso (1998). He has also held several important positions in Malinau Regency.
Yansen tentu tahu banyak soal kependudukan di Malinau. Sebab, jauh sebelum ia jadi bupati, ia pernah tiga kali berturut-turut menjadi camat di: Mentarang (1993), Kayan Ilir (1996) and Peso (1998). Ia pun sempat menduduki beberapa jabatan penting di Kabupaten Malinau.
The lack and absence of students have forced the closure of several primary and secondary schools.
Kurangnya dan tidak adanya murid, menyebabkan tutupnya beberapa sekolah dasar dan sekolah menengah.
Some of the abandoned school buildings are even to be turned into homes of chimney swifts.
Sebagian diantara sekolah-sekolah yang tutup itu, kini malah berubah fungsi menjadi rumah burung walet.
A primary school located in a village named Long Peliran, Pujungan subdistrict, seems to have fared a little better: there’s still a student left.
Sebuah sekolah di desa bernama Long Paliran, Kecamatan Pujungan, sepertinya bernasib sedikit lebih baik: masih punya satu murid.
When Regent Yansen paid a visit to the school, he found almost no one there. He met the one and only student, and the student said that she is waiting for her “work-multiple-jobs” teacher who’s still teaching in other school.
Saat Bupati Yansen berkunjung ke sekolah itu, ia nyaris tak menjumpai siapapun di sana. Ia hanya ketemu dengan satu-satunya murid, dan murid tersebut mengatakan bahwa ia sedang menunggu gurunya, yang masih mengajar di sekolah lain.
In many places on the earth, empty villages are often related to epidemic, famine, war or climate. But in Malinau, villages become empty due to the low birth rate.
Di banyak tempat di muka bumi, desa-desa yang kosong lebih kerap diakibatkan penyakit epidemik, kelaparan, perang maupun faktor iklim. Tapi di Malinau, beberapa desa hilang karena rendahnya angka kelahiran.
The problem will certainly affect many things.
Persoalan ini sudah tentu akan berimbas pada banyak hal.
Malinau Regency has an area of 42,620.70 square kilometers with an estimated population of 62,423 according to 2010 census.
Luas wilayah Kabupaten Malinau tercatat 42.620,70 kilometer persegi, dengan perkiraan jumlah penduduk 62.423 jiwa, menurut sensus tahun 2010.
Through the BKKBN (National Population and Family Planning Board), the Government of Indonesia have been campaigning the family planning program for decades with the slogan of “two children are better”, previously “two children are enough”. The central government have decided to reduce the number of children for fear of eventual overpopulation or any other factors which do not favor children.
Melalui BKKBN (Badan Koordinasi Keluarga Berencana Nasional) Pemerintah Indonesia telah puluhan tahun mengkampanyekan program keluarga berencana atau KB dengan dengan slogan “dua anak lebih baik”, atau yang dulu “dua anak cukup”. Pemerintah pusat memutuskan untuk menekan jumlah anak karena kuatir terjadi ledakan penduduk atau sebab faktor lain yang tidak menghendaki banyak anak.
But specifically in Malinau, the program should be understood from a different perspective.
Namun khusus di Malinau, program tersebut seyogyanya dipahami dari sudut pemikiran yang berbeda.
To anticipate problems (that could have a far broader impact) caused by underpopulation, the government of Malinau have creatively modified BKKBN’s “two children are better” into “five children are better”…
Untuk mengantisipasi berbagai persoalan (yang bisa saja berdampak luas) akibat kekurangan penduduk, pemerintah Malinau secara kreatif memodifikasi slogan BKKBN “dua anak lebih baik” menjadi “lima anak lebih baik”…***(kalimantan.english@gmail.com)
Kalimantan English 