Community-based project benefits slump villagers

Community-based project benefits slump villagers

Rita A.Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

Once one of the country's most powerful men, a close and loyal
aide to the strongman Soeharto, Moerdiono is no ordinary name.

In the neighborhood of Banjar Sari, a poor and densely
populated area near the Ubung bus terminal in Denpasar, Moerdiono
remains very well remembered to this day, thanks to the public
toilet that is named after him: the MCK Moerdiono, which he
personally inaugurated.

For more than 10 years, residents bathed, washed and did many
other things in the MCK, which stands for mandi (bath), cuci
(wash) and kakus (toilet). It didn't take long before the
Moerdiono toilet had become run down, smelly and dirty.

MCK Moerdiono is just one of hundreds of ill-conceived
community-based projects carried out by the New Order government
across Bali, which now lie abandoned and wasted.

"I'd rather take a bath in the river than have to wait for
hours to use that dirty toilet," said Ita, a native of Lombok,
West Nusa Tenggara.

Local residents had hoped Moerdono would return to the village
to renovate his MCK, but he never came.

Now, after a long wait, the residents of Banjar Sari have a
brand new, clean and healthy public toilet, called MCK Jempiring.

"Finally we have a proper bathroom and toilets with clean and
running water," said Ita, who has lived in the area for 14 years.

Standing on a 98-square-meter plot of land, rented from local
resident I Ketut Nasib, the new MCK has eight bathrooms and
toilets equipped with showers.

Beautifully decorated with creamy ceramic tiles, the public
toilet is very attractive in appearance, looking a little out of
place in the middle of a slum with dilapidated huts and half-
brick houses.

Colorful murals on each of the MCK's walls liven up the
atmosphere, while a small lotus pond invites everybody in the
neighborhood to come in and try out the toilets.

"It's like entering a toilet in a star-rated hotel," exclaimed
Anto, a local teenager who will work at the MCK.

Ann Thomas, a program officer with the World Bank's water and
sanitation project, praised the project during a visit to Banjar
Sari village on Tuesday afternoon.

"It is an impressive sanitation project. This might be one of
the best public toilets built as part of a community-based
project in Indonesia," said Thomas, who has visited a number of
water and sanitation projects across the country.

It is thanks to a community-based project overseen by Bali
Fokus and funded by German non-profit organization Bremen
Overseas Research Development Association (BORDA), that Banjar
Sari village now has a new toilet.

The construction of the public toilet started in April 2003
and was completed just a few days before it was inaugurated by
the Denpasar mayor on Aug. 6.

"The construction of MCK Jempiring, including land rental fee,
cost about Rp 180 million, paid for with a grant from BORDA. The
operation of the public toilet will be fully handled by locals,"
said Yuyun Ilham, director of Bali Fokus, a local non-
governmental organization focusing on community development and
environmental issues.

The public toilet is also equipped with a modern waste
treatment system. With the Decentralized Waste Water Treatment
System, liquid waste from the toilet will be processed to produce
methane gas for cooking.

"The methane gas will be enough to be used in three
households," Yuyun said.

In practice, each resident using the public toilet has to pay
between Rp 300 and Rp 500 per visit.

I Made Yasa, head of Banjar Sari traditional customary
village, said the money would be used to cover maintenance costs
and the salaries of two workers.

According to Made, about 466 families live in the village,
most of them from East Java, Lombok and poorer areas in Bali like
Karang Asem, Klungkung and Buleleng.

"They (migrants) came in the early l980s when Bali's economy
was booming," Made said.

Historically, Balinese families in Jempiring, Banjar Sari,
possessed large plots of lands. As areas adjacent to the Ubung
bus terminal grew as one of Denpasar's economic centers, people
began arriving in numbers from outside the island.

The flood of migrants changed population patterns in Denpasar,
which now has about 500,000 residents.

The arrival of large numbers of migrants opened new business
opportunities for locals to rent or sell their properties.

As time passed, the construction of rental houses and rooms
grew, violating Denpasar's city master plan. The growth of urban
slums like Banjar Sari was inevitable. Denpasar's now has a
population density of 3,378 people per square kilometer.

Yuyun said the situation in Banjar Sari village was poor in
terms of a lack of proper sanitation facilities, clean water and
most, of all, people's awareness of the need for a clean and
healthy environment.

"It was not easy to convince the villagers they should have at
least one public toilet to bathe in and wash their clothes. We
started to approach the locals in June 2002 and finished in Dec.
2002," said Yuyun.

To increase the residents' awareness of hygiene and sense of
ownership, Bali Fokus has actively involved the community in the
project.

"I frequently said the planned public toilet would be used and
owned by the villagers, and therefore they must decide what's
best for them.

"Eventually, Bali Fokus will only be providing technical
assistance and monitoring," Yudi said.

Made Yasa promised that residents would take care the public
toilet. "We are very grateful and hope we can build more
facilities to improve the village's condition and to empower our
people, the youth especially," Made Yasa said.