30% of Jakartans do not have access to toilets

30% of Jakartans do not have access to toilets

JAKARTA (JP): Some three million Jakartans, or 30 percent of
the capital's population, do not use toilets when they relieve
themselves, a city official said on Monday.

Head of the city office of the Ministry of Health Dedy
Ruswendi said that even though the remaining 70 percent of
Jakartans do use toilets, it did not mean they own the facility
because some of them used public toilets.

He said most people who do not have access to toilets relieved
themselves in rivers and canals, causing water pollution.

"The lack of toilets, together with a lack of clean water and
unhealthy habits are the biggest causes of diarrhea," he told
reporters at City Hall after a meeting on a planned sanitation
week drive.

Dedy said health problems in the city were exacerbated by
limited drinking, adding that only 59 percent of clean water in
the city was drinkable after boiling.

The poor conditions regularly cause diarrhea, with 16.5 people
per 1,000 being affected, according to the office's environmental
health subdivision staffer Frida Mutiara.

Based on ministry data, toilet availability in Indonesia is
the lowest in the region compared to neighboring countries like
Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and the Pacific Islands.

Nationwide, toilet availability is 59.34 percent with the
incidents of diarrhea reaching 280 per 1,000, Frida said but gave
no details on the figures in other countries.

Dedy said that due to the poor condition, the administration
planned to declare a sanitation week drive on July 28 in relation
to National Health Day on Nov. 12.

During the drive, which will be officiated by Governor
Sutiyoso on July 28, the administration will facilitate the
establishment of family or public toilets in slum areas.

Dedy said that during the drive the administration would give
technical assistance on bathroom construction and distribute a
"stimulating fund" to the poorest families in slum areas which
will be pilot projects.

The pilot projects will be in the Matraman district in East
Jakarta, Cipete Selatan subdistrict in South Jakarta, Rawa Buaya
subdistrict in West Jakarta, Marunda subdistrict in North Jakarta
and Tanah Tinggi subdistrict in Central Jakarta.

However, the exact amount of the project fund was not
available as of Monday.

In another development, Dedy said 243 children in the city had
been hospitalized for malnutrition since December last year.
Seven of them have died.

Early this year, at least 3,000 cases of malnutrition in
children under five years old had been detected in the city.

Dedy said that to enhance the quality of children's health,
the health office planned to intensify Posyandu", activities on
periodical checkups of mother and children under five years old
jointly conducted by community members and local community health
center officials.

He said the activity would be conducted once a week instead of
once a month at present.

There are about 4,000 Posyandu in the city, with 1,800 of them
not fully operational due to broken facilities or inactive
members, he said.(ind)