Goals set for sanitation could take RI 200 years

It will take 200 years for Indonesia to reach Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targets for 2015, which include a working sewerage system and toilets for 3.7 million people annually, a senior official says.

I Nyoman Kandun, director general for Disease Control and Environmental Sanitation at the Health Ministry, said Friday coverage rates for national sanitation in the past 18 years had been very slow.

Ministry data shows the rate of access to basic sanitation facilities in rural areas from 1990 to 2004 was slow, with a 1 percent increase every five years. Access in urban areas has grown 2 percent in five years.

"The country's slow sanitation coverage rates have denied more than 100 million people access to basic sanitation facilities," Kandun said in a discussion.

Former United Nations ambassador for the Millennium Development Goals Erna Witoelar said sanitation had often been considered a "small" target and had been mocked as a "minimum development goal".

She said this had resulted in a lack of investment in the sector.

"The money invested for the sanitation sector in the country is only US$27 million of the $600 million needed per year," Erna said.

Member of the House commission VII on environment Tjatur Sapto Edy said it had been difficult to realize a budget increase for the sanitation sector.

"The government has only allocated Rp 0.5 trillion for the sector, and this year the budget will be cut by 15 percent," he said.

The budget allocation for sanitation at the Health Ministry, for example, will be slashed from Rp 435 billion last year to some Rp 300 billion this year, he said.

Kandun said the reduction was because the government had prioritized other programs including health insurance and disease control.

"Don't even dream of having the budget increased for sanitation," he said. "Even the grants promised for the sector had not been realized yet."

Budi Yuwono, director general for Housing, Building and Planning at the Public Works Ministry, said despite a 40 percent increase in his budget this year, it would not be used for sanitation.

"The government still considers road repairs and irrigation constructions for the agricultural sector more important than sanitation matters," he said.

Budi said not all government officials had the political will to improve the sanitation sector and executives and legislative members had shown less interest in the issue.

Poor sanitation has been blamed for the outbreaks of diarrhea in the country.

Health Ministry statistics showed 10,980 cases of diarrhea in 2006 and 3,661 cases in 2007.

The World Health Organization said improved sanitation had a positive impact on economic growth and poverty reduction.

A recent WHO study said every dollar spent on improving sanitation generated an average economic benefit of US$ 9.1. (dia)

Post Date : 15 Maret 2008