Indonesia
Infrastructure
Initiative
Inspiring Story
Sanitation - A Simple Game
for a Healthier Neighborhood
Sewage Management at Tirtawening Water Authority
It’s a simple game. And it involves poo (Sorry. Ed). You try to
estimate the amount of feces that your family produces each
day. The participants are a group of housewives. They’ve
been invited to play the game by members of the Total
Sanitation Community Forum - a volunteer organisation from
Antapani, Bandung, assisted by staff of the local Community
Health Clinic. For every family member, you take a handful of
shredded paper. And depending on the number of times a
family member might defecate each day, you add to the pile
of paper.
Tina Sumartinah, the head of the local Family Welfare
Association, explains: “Assume that each family household
comprises four members. And that someone might go to the
toilet more than once. The pile of shredded paper gets bigger
and bigger. One household can produce 1.5 kg per day. This
amount of poo, if not dealt with properly, can become a source
of disease in our village.”
Pak Sugiarto, the neighbourhood secretary, shows the
activity plan for a community-based sanitation program
“In our religion, cleanliness is part
of our faith. As religious people,
we feel ashamed if we cannot maintain
personal hygiene. From that starting
point, we are able to encourage
community members to learn more
about sanitation.”
In 2014, before joining the local Water Authority’s sanitation
program for low income households, the village experienced
regularly flooding due to blocked drains. Dreadful smells
were a feature of daily life whenever the water over-flowed.
Raw sewerage and scattered rubbish became a major
problem. Sanitation awareness raising activities involving
women are now regularly conducted in Antapani. They are
the result of collaboration between the Forum Head (and also
Neighbourhood Head), Heru and influential community
members.
A spirit of working together to develop better sanitation and
a healthier community, now sees Antapani with a team of 20
volunteers, mostly female members of the Community
Welfare Association. It is one of the outcomes of the
Tirtawening Water Authority’s sanitation program - work that
has involved funding support from the Indonesia
Infrastructure Initiative (IndII). Antapani is one of nine
sub-districts and 13 villages in Bandung where 3,100
wastewater pipe connections have been installed through the
Australian Government’s Sanitation Hibah (Grant) scheme.
The Association members have not profited in any way.
Excavation and latrine installation have all been provided
free of charge. It is done for the community in the spirit of
gotong royong (mutual help).” One healthy latrine is able
Boy Tagajagawani, Director of Sewage Management at
Tirtawening Water Authority, notes that “Every stage of the
to serve several homes.
activity - ranging from socialisation, promotion, campaigns
and education – features community collaboration. We invite
all stakeholders to create a common vision of improved
sanitation, especially wastewater treatment. The role of
‘sanitation warriors’ such as Heru, community leaders and
women is integral to everything that we achieve.”
Local resident Antub reports “Around my house, there are no
longer any smells or local flooding.” Antub’s family can now
easily access healthy latrines. He is now even able to plant
cucumbers beside the house as floodwater will no longer ruin
the vegetation.
Heru and his team of sanitation volunteers have faced a
variety of challenges in trying to convince people to
participate in the sanitation program. They have been
accused of working with sanitation contractors for personal
financial gain. In fact, no member of the volunteer team has
a relationship with a contracting company. There are also
community members who have qualms about digging
through soil and waste to install pipe connections. Tina
explains: "I ask people not be selfish. I remind them that we
are already getting old. How will we feel if our grandchildren
get sick due to poor sanitation?”
For the city of Bandung the next target is to increase
household connections by an additional 5,800 (from 113,488
in 2015 to 119,288 in 2016). The additional connections will be
made either through routine activities or grants. For Heru and
his sanitation volunteers, the 2016 target for Antapani is to
become an Open Defecation Free (ODF) zone.
Collaboration between the public, sanitation volunteers and
the Tirtawening Water Authority Sewage Department will
continue to support efforts to achieve these targets.
Religious teachings play a crucial role in triggering awareness
about sanitation, says Neighbourhood No. 8 Secretary
Sugiarto. “In our religion, cleanliness is part of our faith.
As religious people, we feel ashamed if we cannot maintain
personal hygiene. From that starting point, we are able to
encourage community members to learn more about
sanitation.”
The same spirit is shared by the PDAM Tirtawening. “For us
at the Water Authority, even if the water testing and related
technical matters have all been finalised, our work cannot be
considered complete if the community is still not satisfied,”
says Boy.
Innovative approaches taken by the community have inspired
the local sanitation program. Through the Bandung City
Sanitation Business Association, Heru has coordinated the
supply of septic tanks (healthy latrines) for those community
members living in remote areas not reached by the Water
Authority’s piped network. He explains that “Due to the
homes being located at too low a level, they cannot be
reached [by the existing pipe network]. However as a result of
consultations with the Sanitation Business Association, funds
have been made available to provide healthy latrines.
The Antapani community works together to build healthy latrines