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WATER SERVICE, RECYCLING REACH
INDONESIAN COMMUNITIES
FrontLines - July 2010
By Roman Woronowycz
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About 50 percent of Indonesia’s poor lack access to clean water; 75 percent do not have adequate sanitation.
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SURABAYA, Indonesia—
In this vast Asian country, local
activists are working to provide
clean water and proper sanitation
to communities.
For five years, USAID’s Environmental Services Program (ESP)
has helped them.
“One of the keys to our success has been the local champions.
They get things done,” said Agus Hernadi, an ESP program specialist
in Surabaya, East Java.
In Indonesia’s second largest city, two local activists spurred successful
community efforts for wider access to clean water and
sanitation.
In 2005, Suhadak (like many Indonesians, he does not use a surname),
a resident of Surabaya’s Wonokromo neighborhood, was
working to convince
the local neighborhood
leader that
new sanitation facilities
were needed to
replace an outdated
system that flooded
regularly. At about
the same time, ESP
was considering a
project for Wonokromo
on community
based sanitation and
clean water services.
At first, only
38 households
agreed to participate.
After Suhadak
lent his support,
participation
quickly grew. |
Clean hands lead to better health.
|
Today, with
Suhadak as a central
figure in organizing
the neighborhood, more than 500 families are recycling inorganic
waste and depositing organic matter at a composting site. They
learned that better hygiene and drinking safe water reduces diarrhea
and improves health. Improved solid waste management now
includes waste reduction, recycling, and composting. And, residents
have access to clean, efficient toilets and washing and laundering
areas.
“I never imagined how good it would all turn out to be,” said
Suhadak, who has since been elected community leader.
In Lemah Putro, another Surabaya neighborhood, community
activist Wagiran had worked unsuccessfully to provide a water utility
connection to his neighborhood. Twice he thought he had reached
agreement with the public water utility and twice it turned out that he
was wrong. The critical issue was finding a way to guarantee individual
homes could and would pay their monthly water bill. |
Sanitation facilities are better maintained
with a sense of ownership and responsibility.
|
“In the past, we have had many difficulties. Before ESP, two other
NGOs tried to help. They did not succeed,” explained Wagiran.
ESP succeeded by developing a community-wide plan for paying
for water. Wagiran represented the community in developing the
details with the utility and then convinced home owners they could
afford the hook-up fee and monthly costs. Today, he heads the community
group that collects the fees, provides short-term credit when
needed, and pays the utility bill.
“There is a key element of trust that must be maintained for this
to succeed,” Hernadi said.
Wagiran has ensured that rates remain reasonable, that access to
credit is easy and fair, and that everything is done transparently. Now
51 homeowners have clean water piped to their homes with more
joining up for service. Each household pays about $70 for a connection,
less than a quarter of the going rate for Surabaya.
Wagiran’s neighbor, Ribut, was one of the first to agree to participate.
She now pays about half of the $7 a month she used to pay a
water dealer.
“It is a blessing from Allah. I am delighted that we have water at
the house,” said Ribut.
★
FrontLines is published
by the Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs
U.S. Agency for International Development
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Material should be submitted
by mail to Editor, FrontLines, USAID,
RRB, Suite 6.10, Washington, DC 20523-6100;
by FAX to 202-216-3035; or by e-mail to frontlines@usaid.gov
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