Ciliwung River home to locals' floating toilets
Text and photo by Ida Indawaty Khouw
JAKARTA (JP): Houses without toilets are commonplace for many living in Jakarta slums, so much so that they are forced to erect public toilets or relieve themselves in rivers.
Located near the hustle and bustle of the Jatinegara area where only a small number of private homes have toilets, for years Kebon Pala residents living along the Ciliwung River have found it impossible to install toilets on their premises either due to poverty or the narrowness of their homes.
They instead make use of the murky river and have built floating toilets which have become the center of much activity.
About 10 floating toilets are scattered around the area, which also has public bathhouses, popularly known as Mandi Cuci Kakus (MCK, bathe, wash, toilet).
"Each community group has its own MCK but there are not any here, furthermore we should pay for the public ones while here is free," local youth Fadillah told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
The floating toilets are constructed on bamboo poles tightly fasten together by thick rope.
To keep the bamboo raft in one location afloat, scores of used tires are tied along the raft's sides and three layers of used rafts are stacked underneath.
"We pile a new raft on top of an old broken one, we discard the very bottom one after there are three layers. The raft usually breaks after two years," said Fadillah.
He said local residents made the floating toilets themselves after collecting money from community members, adding that one raft cost Rp 450,000.
Another resident, Luki, said each alley in the area had its own floating toilet and it had became the responsibility of community members to finance repairs.
On Monday, head of the city office of the Ministry of Health Dedy Ruswendi said some three million Jakartans, or 30 percent of the capital's residents, relieved themselves in rivers or canals, causing water pollution.
The condition is the main cause of diarrhea in the city, with the incidence rate at 16.5 per 1,000 people, the office data revealed.
Kebon Pala residents said that floating toilets were a better choice than building MCKs.
"Building MCKs is more expensive, the waste is also released into the same river. Moreover, we've had floating toilets for years," said resident Mutholib.
As with most rivers in the city, the Ciliwung River, which flows through Kebon Pala subdistrict, is utilized for many activities like bathing, washing clothes and dumping garbage.
From quite a distance, a bad odor from human waste and garbage can be smelled emitting from the murky river.
It is not uncommon for children, who swim almost daily in the river, to suffer skin disease.
Eight-year-old Aji happily swims in the river with his friends, oblivious to people relieving themselves in the upper reaches of the river.
Aji said he considered swimming in a river full of filth nothing to worry about.
"It's easy, if we see human feces floating around, we just swim to the other side. The water itself is clean, isn't it?" he said.
Another resident Mak Mimi said it was common for babies to suffer from diarrhea.
"A baby will recover after being treated at community health centers, even though some have died. God is generous in that it seems we are immune to disease," she said.(ind)