Public Water Source (Photo by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Source: Kompas Date: 25 June 2020
The World Bank states Indonesia is still lagging behind other developing countries in providing basic services to its population, such as water supply and sanitation.
In a study titled Public Expenditure Review Spending for Better Results, the World Bank reported that countries in the same region as China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia had a higher number in population with access to safe drinking water and sanitation.
“When compared with Vietnam and the Philippines, the comparison is very striking. Given these countries have lower per capita income than Indonesia,” said World Bank Clean Water and Sanitation Specialist, Irma Setiono, Thursday (6/25/2020).
In addition, the national average does not show the disparity in access to drinking water between income level groups. The use of bottled water (AMDK), for example, varies greatly across income segments. More than half of households in the richest quintile in Indonesia depend on bottled drinking water.
Meanwhile, only 8 percent of households in the poorest quintile in rural areas use bottled drinking water. “So even though bottled water has become a popular source of drinking water, the main users still only consist of groups of people who can afford it. Poorer households still depend on traditional water sources, both urban and rural,” said Irma.
The same thing also happened in the sanitation sector. The disparity in access to proper sanitation is seen among geographically diverse income groups. Only 49 percent of Indonesians in the lowest expenditure quintile have access to proper sanitation facilities, compared to 87 percent in the top quintile.
“A significant difference is also seen between urban and rural areas. In 2017, 91 percent of the richest population in urban areas have access to proper sanitation, compared to 74 percent of the richest population in rural areas,” he said.
As information, over the past two decades, Indonesia has made great progress in the water supply and sanitation sector. In 2018, 73 percent of households in Indonesia have access to improved drinking water and 69 percent to proper sanitation.
This figure increased significantly from conditions in 1994, when it was only 38 percent and 28 percent, respectively. Some achievements have been driven by progress in rural areas, where access to drinking water has increased 2-3 times faster than in urban areas.
