Sanitation in RI getting worse: UN<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesia suffers a whopping US$4.7 billion in economic losses
\nper year or $12 per family per month due to its poor sewerage
\nsystem, a United Nations task force says.<\/p>\n
Co-Chairman of the UN Task Force on Water and Sanitation
\nAlbert Wright said on Friday that to make things worse, Indonesia
\nsuffered repeated local epidemics of gastrointestinal infections
\nand had the highest incidence of typhoid in East Asia as
\nmunicipal sewerage system coverage stood at below 5 percent.<\/p>\n
\"Poor environmental sanitation brings economic loss and
\nreduces the quality of life, especially for women and children.
\nThe situation in Indonesia is bad and getting worse,\" Wright, who
\nvisited Indonesia under the invitation of the World Bank, said.<\/p>\n
It is the latest evaluation from the UN task force after the
\nIndonesian government said last month in its country report
\npresented in the third World Water Forum (WWF) in Kyoto last
\nmonth that only 20 percent of the country's 215 million people
\nhad access to clean water.<\/p>\n
The government has also said a number of water-borne diseases
\nsuch as diarrhea and typhoid remained rampant in the country.<\/p>\n
Poor sanitation and pollution will cause over six million
\npeople to suffer from diarrhea this year, according to a senior
\ngovernment official.<\/p>\n
Wright criticized the central government for having invested
\nvery little in sewerage and sanitation, while local governments
\nhad done nothing in the area.<\/p>\n
\"Private households invest significantly in individual
\nsewerage systems,\" Wright said. There are only one million septic
\ntanks in the dense Greater Jakarta, home to over 15 million of
\npeople.<\/p>\n
However, he said, too much individual on-site human waste
\ndisposal can exceed the assimilative capacity of the local area.<\/p>\n
\"The question lingers whether Indonesia will be able to meet
\nthe Millennium Development Goals to halve by the year 2015 the
\nproportion of people who do not have access to basic sanitation,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Basah Hernowo, the National Development Planning Agency
\n(Bappenas) Director for Housing and Human Settlement said that if
\nthe financing was only to come from the government, it was
\nunlikely that Indonesia would be able to meet the Millennium
\nDevelopment Goals (MDG) target.<\/p>\n
He called on all parties, comprising the government, non-
\ngovernmental organizations, donors, the private sector and the
\ncommunity to cooperate in order to reach the MDG target.<\/p>\n
\"A change in the development paradigm is needed. The previous
\npolicy of separating sanitation facilities and water supply
\nshould now be in tandem,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Wright agreed with Bambang, saying that basic sanitation was
\neverybody's business.<\/p>\n
\"Actually since sanitation is concerned with maintaining a
\nclean and healthy living environment, it is everybody's business.
\nAll can contribute,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Andrew Steer, World Bank Country Director for Indonesia, said:
\n\"It is time for us to work together to develop a new paradigm to
\ncomprehensively address the growing sanitation crisis that is
\nfacing Indonesia, particularly in densely populated areas\".<\/p>\n
According to him, the World Bank is currently working with the
\ngovernment to develop a new policy framework and strategies for
\ntackling sanitation.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sanitation-in-ri-getting-worse-un-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}