Bappenas commits to improving clean water access in NTT

The Ministry of National Development Planning/National Development Planning Agency (PPN/Bappenas), through the National Secretariat of Open Government Indonesia, is committed to improving clean water access in villages, particularly in disadvantaged areas of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). This commitment is undertaken alongside the Ministry of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions, the NTT Provincial Government, Solar Chapter, and Wahana Visi Indonesia.

“These efforts are supported by the participatory data platform, Mengalir.co, which encourages the use and strengthening of field-based data as the basis for planning and implementing clean water programmes in the region,” stated Maharani Putri Samsu Wibowo, Director of Foreign Relations at the Ministry of PPN/Bappenas and Chair of the Strategic Coordination Team for the National Action Plan of Open Government Indonesia, in an official statement from Jakarta on Monday.

Mengalir.co integrates data and information from participatory reports by NTT residents, local governments, and other stakeholders regarding clean water conditions in the NTT region. Based on field data from Menglar.co as of May 2024, 359 out of 764 villages (46.98 per cent) have service coverage of below 25 per cent. Furthermore, 243 villages (31.58 per cent) lack adequate water services, with 172 villages experiencing non-functional systems and 71 villages lacking water infrastructure entirely.

These findings emphasise the importance of strengthening complementary field-based data and multi-stakeholder collaboration to increase the capacity, governance, and effectiveness of clean water programmes, ensuring services reach the community more equitably and sustainably.

“Citizen participatory reports, local government data, and field surveys are all integrated into a single platform accessible to anyone, including the government, NGOs, and the community itself,” said Mustika Wijaya, Executive Director of Solar Chapter. The use of this integrated data is expected to bridge local needs with sustainable solutions and serve as a coordination basis to align programmes related to clean water provision. Currently, the Mengalir.co platform has provided validated data for 764 villages.