Public bathrooms for Tangerang

TANGERANG: A delegation of the Indonesia-Netherlands Joint Committee for the Repatriation of Maluku People (Panmal) inaugurated on Tuesday 12 public bathrooms (MCK) in Neglasari subdistrict, Tangerang.

Construction of the public bathrooms, costing Rp 150 million, was financed by the joint committee, which felt concerned about public sanitation in the subdistrict as most of the locals reportedly had no bathroom.

Poverty has caused most of the locals, who live near Soekarno- Hatta International Airport, to depend on Cisadane river water for their daily washing and bathing needs, including defecating.

"We feel concerned about the local people who live far from good sanitation facilities here. We hope the construction of this MCK will lead the people to a better awareness of a healthy environment," committee coordinator Henk H. Hoek, who led 10 other delegates, told The Jakarta Post.

The joint committee was founded in 1975. In its agreement with the Indonesian government, known as the Wasnaar Conclusion, the Netherlands government promised to help with the repatriation of Maluku people who had escaped the country and lived in the Netherlands.

Before the agreement was due to end, on Dec. 31, 2003, he said hundreds of Maluku people had been returned to the country.--JP