Students drink only rainwater
Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor
The death of a student at Ummul Quro Al Islami Boarding School in Banyusuci kampong, Leuwiliang, Bogor, from severe diarrhea last Sunday revealed a shocking fact: The students and staff at the school have been consuming only rain water for the last two years.
"We don't know why the piped water stopped running two years ago ... we always paid the Rp 90,000 (US$9) monthly bill until now.
"We have no other choice but to consume rain water because our well has also been dry for sometime," the boarding school chief Helmy Abdul Mubin told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
A total of 1,800 students, 77 teachers, 18 cooks and dozens of other school staff have to reserve distilled rain water for their daily consumption.
"We have to provide thousands liters of water ... 5,000 liters just to cook rice every day," Helmy said.
However, rain doesn't fall every day in this often-rainy city. During those days, students have to walk to the spring in Karacak village, five kilometers from the boarding school. In one day, they can bring back some 4,000 liters of water.
The lack of clean water is somewhat of an irony considering that the name of the kampong literally means holy water.
"I believe that the lack of clean water here made us sick," Helmy said.
Over one hundred of students of the boarding school suddenly fell sick on Saturday night. They complained of severe stomach ache.
Aris Tadjudin died on Sunday, while around 20 other students were treated in several hospitals and the remainder in the boarding school.
The Bogor Health Agency and the police are still investigating the cause of the diarrhea which was also suffered by residents in the vicinity of the boarding school.
Meanwhile, spokesman from Bogor water company PDAM Tirta Kahuripan, Sutisna, said that the company had to check why the boarding school was not getting a clean water supply.
"We have never received any reports from our branch in Leuwiliang about this ... we will soon send someone to check," he said.