Building Safe Sanitation Access through Community Self-Help

The community in Kotaraja Village, East Lombok, is building access to safe sanitation independently and with the support of other parties.

KOMPAS/PRADIPTA PANDU MUSTIKA

Baiq Remlah (53) demonstrates the sanitation access built through assistance from the National Zakat Agency (Baznas) at her home in Kotaraja Village, Sikur District, East Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara, on Tuesday (7/5/2024).

The years-long wait of Baiq Remlah (53) to have a toilet in her own residence has finally been fulfilled. Due to economic reasons, Remlah had to rely on her relative's house to defecate.

Remlah is one of the residents of Kotaraja Village, Sikur District, East Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara, who received assistance for the construction of safe sanitation from the National Zakat Amil Agency (Baznas). The progress of sanitation development was also reviewed directly by the United Nations Children's Agency (UNICEF) together with the NTB Provincial Government.

In the development of sanitation and improvement of toilet quality, Baznas provides a budget of Rp 500,000 for each toilet unit given to 192 families in Kotaraja Village. Baznas' budget includes the procurement of materials such as toilets, pipes, one bag of cement, and concrete pipes.

However, the budget to build one latrine unit in each house costs IDR 2 million-IDR 3 million. This budget is for the construction of walls, doors, and work wages. The budget shortfall for sanitation development is met through contributions from families and community self-help.

After all the funds were collected, the construction of a toilet in Remlah's house began at the end of 2023. Now, the 2 meter x 2 meter sized toilet has been completed with water access, a door or partition, and lighting.

KOMPAS/PRADIPTA PANDU MUSTIKA

Baiq Remlah (53) shows the sanitation access built with assistance from Baznas at her home in Kotaraja Village, Sikur District, East Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara, on Tuesday (7/5/2024).

"The presence of this toilet makes me cleaner and I no longer need to rely on my relatives' house to defecate," said Remlah at her home in Kotaraja Village, East Lombok Regency, NTB, on Friday (3/5/2024).

The community's awareness of working together to assist in building toilets for each family is not separate from education and understanding regarding the importance of safe sanitation improvements in their areas. The community is already aware that building safe sanitation facilities will also prevent the spread of various diseases.

The results of the study show that providing safe drinking water and sanitation can reduce the disease risk index by 0.39 percent. Children who live in residences without safe drinking water and sanitation are more vulnerable to stunting.

According to Kotaraja Village Secretary, Lalu Efendi Oktober, the community of Kotaraja has a basic awareness of living in a clean and healthy manner. Currently, there are no longer any signs of people defecating in ditches or rivers.

Every year since 2016, the Kotaraja Village Government has always provided a budget for sanitation improvement programs for families without toilets. In fact, the village's budget for this toilet construction program is much larger than Baznas aid, which is Rp 1 million per unit of toilet construction.

However, the budget was withdrawn after Baznas began providing safe sanitation development assistance to communities in 2022. The budget was then redirected towards other village environmental programs, such as waste management.

Also read: Sanitation Issues Must Become a Common Concern

"The habit of society in the past, who used to defecate in the river, is no longer present. Currently, most families have their own bathroom. Only a few new families still rely on their relatives' bathroom. Apparently, the location of the family's house is not suitable to build a septic tank," said Efendi.

Independent village award

Attention and commitment from all parties have made Kotaraja receive the Self-Sufficient Village award from the Ministry of Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration in 2023. This award is given to villages that are deemed to have the ability to carry out development and provide a decent livelihood for their communities.

This award is based on the achievement of the Developed Village Index (IDM) value, which is assessed from three aspects. First, the assessment of the Social Resilience Index (IKS) to see how the availability of social quality of life in the village such as health, education, culture, and community participation.

The second assessment is the Economic Resilience Index (IKE), which looks at the quality of the community's economic life, such as income, purchasing power, market access, and access to financial institutions in the village. Lastly, the assessment is related to the Environmental Resilience Index (IKL), which looks at the quality of the village environment, such as water resources, basic infrastructure, sanitation, clean water, and waste management in the village.

KOMPAS/PRADIPTA PANDU MUSTIKA

The landscape of Mount Rinjani is visible in Kotaraja Village, Sikur District, East Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara, Tuesday (7/5/2024).

The quality of the environment is an important aspect to consider as Kotaraja continues to build safe sanitation systems that do not cause domestic waste pollution in water sources. This is realized by building domestic waste containment tanks in the form of septic tanks that meet standards, regularly sucking sludge and directing it to management units, as well as providing adequate septic sludge treatment facilities.

Based on the assessment results of the 2023 IDM status, there are no longer any villages in East Lombok categorized as underdeveloped. Out of a total of 239 villages in East Lombok, 26 villages are rated as developing, 125 villages as advanced, and 88 villages as independent.

In line with the center

The Head of the Governance and Human Development Department at the Regional Planning and Development Agency (BAPPEDA) of East Lombok Regency, Khaerul Fatqi, stated that all development programs in cities/districts must be in line with the central government.

Therefore, the district government has formed a working group for housing and residential areas (Pokja PKP). "So, every matter related to housing and residential areas such as sanitation or clean water coordination is facilitated by Bappeda," he said.

Khaerul emphasized that the East Lombok Regency government must continue to strive to realize the five pillars of community-based total sanitation (STBM) as outlined by the Ministry of Health. The five pillars include stopping open defecation, washing hands with soap, managing household waste, managing drinking water and food, and managing domestic wastewater.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

View of a residential village with Mount Rinjani in the background in Sembalun, East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, Friday (22/12/2023).

"Before achieving the five pillars, a few years ago, we attempted to declare the STBM three pillars first. Because, at that time, we were hindered by around 5,441 families who still defecated in open areas scattered in 22 villages and 8 districts. The majority of the community who did not have toilets came from poor families," he said.

Also read: Improve Access to Drinking Water and Sanitation for the Community

To address this challenge, the East Lombok regency government then sought to collaborate with Baznas and several private companies. This plan was welcomed by Baznas, which assisted in the gradual construction of 2,000 sanitation facilities with a total value of Rp 1 billion.

"This agreement was reached at the end of 2021 and is immediately followed up in 2022. Up to now, there have been 241 units of safe sanitation built in several villages in East Lombok. Aside from this program, some communities have also independently built their own sanitation. Our hope is that we can accelerate the construction of sanitation this year," said Khaerul.