PM raises concerns on population growth

THE rate of population growth in the country is putting a lot stress on service delivery, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says.
O’Neill told Parliament that population growth was a
major challenge in any government.
“It’s very challenging because the country lacks a family planning plan, and many families do not have any form of family planning,” he said.
“People have to stop making families in quantities and think of the quality it can produce.
“The population growth rate is stressing-out service delivery putting pressure on the Government.”
O’Neill was responding to Wabag MP Dr Tom Lino’s statement that if the government could not provide services to meet the capacity, it must make policies to control the growth rate.
Meanwhile, he said the number of school dropouts were not as alarming as claimed in reports from the Department of Education and the Department of Higher Education, Science and Technology.
O’Neill said many students had found places in colleges and universities.
“I’m not saying the numbers are fake but merely that the numbers are not as alarming as the reports reported,” he said.
O’Neill said the Government had been trying its best to increase the capacity of tertiary institutions to accommodate more students.
“I know there is more to be done before we can meet the capacity of educating our students at the tertiary level but we have been doing what we can.
“Every year, we have been investing close to K5 million for the last six years to tertiary schools for direct funding of infrastructure.”