Build toilet, get married

JAKARTA (JP): The West Lombok regency will soon issue a decree making it prerequisite for couples to have their own lavatory before they are married.

The ruling also applies to residents who want to build their own house, the Antara news agency reported in a dispatch from Mataram, capital of the West Nusa Tenggara.

"The scheme aims at helping make the government's health campaign a success," regent H. Mudjitahid was quoted as saying.

He said the plan was also intended to make people more independent in health care because they have so far relied on government assistance for basic facilities like toilets.

He said only 30 percent of West Lombok families have their own toilets and the government plans to build another 40,000 public toilets in the current fiscal year. About 20,000 of those will be made with financial assistance from Unicef. (pan)