Page 34 - AW MayJune 19

SPECIAL FEATURE

drink unsafe groundwater, compared with 14 percent of which otherwise cannot afford the high lumpsum cost of
the T60. Contamination stems from poor quality septic a toilet. Targeting subsidized credit and savings schemes
tanks and untreated domestic wastewater, as well as through existing targeting systems that are already
from landfill and industrial effluent. working well to identify low-income households for social
assistance—such as the Unified Database (UDB) operated
Recommended Action by the National Team for the Acceleration of Poverty
Improve the quality of alternative water sources for those Reduction (TNP2K) and the Ministry of Social Affairs
who will remain on non-piped water supply. (MoSA)—can be an efficient and transparent way to
• Enhance monitoring for water quality risks for all source reach households most in need of subsidies and achieve
types, and make this information publicly available. higher levels of service. The UDB contains socioeconomic
Consumers are largely unaware of the variable quality and demographic information for the approximately 40
of drinking water from different sources and the percent of the population with the lowest welfare status,
particular risks posed by poor household water storage the equivalent of 24 million households, or 96 million
practices and poor fecal waste management. Water individuals. The MoH should take a leadership role in
sector strategy should account for the potential water adapting the existing policy on sanitation subsidies to
quality risks of poor sanitation, and the respective address the financial constraints of poor households, and
investments of the water and sanitation sub-sectors MoPWH should work with TNP2K and MoSA to adopt the
should be aligned. This alignment is especially UDB for targeting assistance under the Community-Based
important in areas facing technical barriers to piped Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Program (PAMSIMAS).
water. The Local Development Planning Agency
(Bappeda) at city level can ensure that the needed Fact 4
alignment of water and sanitation is reflected in the The vast majority of households in urban areas use an
respective strategy documents (the Master Plan for improved toilet connected to a septic or sewerage
Drinking Water and the City Sanitation Strategy). system (78 percent), but less than 2 percent of those
Bappeda could also oversee integration of data from are connected to sewerage. However, a combination
the two sub-sectors into planning, implementation, of high idle capacity for existing sewerage networks,
and monitoring. poor performing septage treatment plants, limited
• Strengthen regulatory control for small-scale water improvements to fecal sludge management, and poor
providers to ensure that regulations on drinking water quality investments in on-site sanitation systems results
quality are met. For refilled bottled water, enhanced in 95 percent of fecal waste making its way into the
control could be achieved by linking water quality nearby environment through the process of containment,
monitoring, under the responsibility of MoH, with the emptying, transport, treatment, and disposal. Conditions
licensing process, under the Ministry of Industry (MoI). of high population density and inadequate fecal waste
disposal interact to make poor sanitation particularly risky
Fact 3 to the health of people population health in urban areas.
Between 2006 and 2015 access to improved sanitation
grew at a rate of 6.5 percent annually. However, there Recommended Action
were still close to 100 million people without improved Bring more households into the full sanitation and fecal
sanitation in 2015 and the majority of these lived in rural waste service chain in urban areas.
areas. Just 48 percent of the population has improved • Adopt a more holistic and inclusive approach to
sanitation in rural areas, compared with 76 percent of planning for citywide sanitation to accommodate the
those in urban areas, a gap of 28 percentage points. range of solutions required to meet universal access
Rates of open defecation have declined at similar rates targets in urban areas. Planning should cover the full
between the B40 and T60 since 2002, but B40 households fecal waste service chain and outline a progressive
were more likely to move to basic latrines, contributing roadmap for bringing the entire population into this
to the widening gap in access to improved sanitation service chain. Local solutions are complex, requiring
between the B40 and T60. a combination of piped and non-piped technologies,
such as septic tanks, sewerage, decentralized small-
Recommended Action scale wastewater treatment plants, and fecal sludge
Support the bottom 40 percent in gaining access to management. District heads and mayors need to
improved sanitation. be given responsibility for ensuring consistency in
Strengthen the Sanitasi Total Berbasis Masyarakat planning, budgeting, and execution; flexible funding
(Community-Based Total Sanitation, or STBM) strategy by arrangements; and technical assistance and capacity
revisiting the zero-subsidy approach in order to move up building where needed. This approach requires a
the sanitation ladder. Although global practice suggests delicate balance between the national government’s
subsidies can harm sanitation behavior-change efforts, fiscal leverage to incentivize investment in sanitation,
experience shows that when well-targeted, delivered and granting greater autonomy to LGs to decide
through an efficient channel, and affordable, subsidies where and how to invest those resources.
can be an effective mechanism to reach poor households • Adapt sanitation behavior change to behavioral issues

32 MAY/JUNE 2019 Asian Water