Toilets Salvage the Nation’s Life

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Garbage dump and public bathroom on the side of Blencong River in Tarumajaya area, Bekasi, West Java, Wednesday (21/11/2018). Domestic waste and feces, which are thrown into the river, puts residents at risk of disease. Open defecation is a common issue in various areas of Greater Jakarta.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS -- Toilets are believed to be salvaging the nation as they prevent human waste from spreading deadly diseases. World Toilet Day on Nov. 19 is an inspiration in the face of the global sanitation crisis, writes the United Nations on its official website un.org/en/events/toiletday/.

However, providing proper sanitation all over the world has not be an easy feat. Even today, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) taken from the UN’s website, 4.5 billion people live without proper toilets and 892 million still defecate openly. Globally, 80 percent of human waste water is returned to natural ecosystems without any management or recycling.

Indonesia is among the countries with problematic sanitation. An investigation by Kompas R&D on the website washdata.org in 2015 found that 12.4 percent of Indonesians still defecated openly. Granted, this is lower than the 25.2 percent in 2005.

According to data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) and the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), Indonesia has a population of around 265 million in 2018. This means that, even if only 10 percent of Indonesians defecate openly, that is still 26.5 million people. This is still not taking into account people with improper sanitation. Human waste on waterways, such as rivers, ends up seeping into ground water. The potential diseases threaten not only those who openly defecate but also millions of others.

It is unsurprising that open defecation harms the nation in many ways. According to data from website wsp.org/content/east-asia-economic-impacts-sanitation, international initiative Water and Sanitation Program researched in 2006 that poor sanitation in Indonesia cost the country US$1.2 billion per annum in public welfare, US$166 million per annum in tourism and US$96 million per annum in the loss of productive land.

Among the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is ensuring that everyone has proper toilets and that the world will be open-defecation free in 2030. Failure to reach this target may threaten the entire sustainable development agenda of 2030.

This may also threaten Indonesia’s future. The dream to advance the country through infrastructure development in various aspects to boost the tourist industry, among others, may be hindered. The Public Works and Housing Ministry’s Cipta Karya human settlements director general, Danis H. Sumadilaga, said many regions in the country were still lacking clean water and sanitation facilities. Accelerating development in these sectors is included in the government’s program.

“This is a must. Our tourism selling point will significantly decrease without it. Sanitation includes toilets and waste management,” Danis said on Tuesday (20/11/2018).

Danis said the country should add to its clean water and toilet infrastructure in tourism areas, especially in priority tourist destinations.

Development of sanitation infrastructure should also be accompanied by the improvement of public awareness on maintaining hygiene. Unsanitary toilets will only drive away tourists from tourism areas.

Referring to data from washdata.org, Indonesian Toilets Association (ATI) chair Naning Adiwoso said that, despite the high prevalence of open defecation and improper toilets in Indonesia, the country’s sanitation condition had improved over the past few years. In many public areas, such as in international airports, we can see better quality toilets. Infrastructure-wise, airport managements have provided paper towels, tissue, dryers and washers.

“As a tropical country, Indonesia is more humid than other countries. [We should keep everything] clean, dry, smell-free to minimize the spreading of diseases,” Naning said.

Better sanitation can also be found in malls, restaurants and train stations. Naning said high sanitation standards should also be applied for restrooms at gas stations, considering that traveling is on the rise.

However, Naning also reminded that Indonesia had yet to develop a nationwide culture of hygienic toilets and a majority of Indonesians still underestimated the role of toilets. This is especially reflected in the informal colloqualisms used to refer to toilets, including “the small room” or “the back”.

Strong political will from the government is needed to urge for and launch programs to improve toilet hygiene, Naning said. According to her, such will is weak nowadays. This is despite the prevailing view that toilets can salvage communities and, therefore, an entire nation. A nation with a strong civilization can be seen in its toilet hygiene culture.