Improving Sanitation Services and Impact to the Poor

Abstraksi

Indonesia has managed to increase its sanitation access by nearly 2%-points/year in average in the last 10 years, and has overall made a good progress on MDGs. Nevertheless, there is still persistent gap of access -in different income levels- and service quality. In 2016, there was a 19.2 percentage point gap in rural areas (61.4% vs 42.1%) which correlates with high construction cost to move up the ladder from basic to improved sanitation. Meanwhile, despite high levels of access to improved sanitation in urban setting, low service quality in fecal waste management still persists. An estimated 95% of fecal waste still disposed unsafely to the environment due to poor quality of on-site sanitation, lack of adequate emptying and disposal, or difficult access or dysfunctional treatment plants. These conditions increase cost of water treatment, lead to environmental degradation, increase risk of disease and stunting especially of children of the poor. Strengthening the Sanitasi Total Berbasis Masyarakat (STBM) strategy by revisiting zero-subsidy approach would be one of recommended solutions. Targeting subsidized credit and saving schemes through existing targeting system that identifies low-income households can be an efficient way to reach households in the need of subsidies. Adopting a more holistic and inclusive citywide sanitation planning, including its plan to synergize various funding, that aims at covering the full fecal waste service chain would help in improving sanitation services and impacts for the entire population.