If you are annoyed about constantly having to buy gallons of Aqua in order to have drinking water, don’t be – the fact that you have access to clean water means you are far better off than many Indonesians.
According to Subekti, the director of the Indonesian Drinking Water Producers association, only 68.8% of Indonesians actually have access to clean drinking water, making Indonesia the worst amongst all ASEAN member countries in terms drinking water services.
“Our people consume water that is of poor quality,” Subekti said during a discussion in Jakarta on Sunday, as quoted by Tempo.
Subekti went on to say that many ASEAN countries had already managed to achieve 100% access to clean drinking water and that Indonesia had many challenges to overcome before it could achieve the same figure. Among the numerous problems hindering water access, he said that raw water availability, electricity bills, a lack of human resources and funding were among the most difficult to address.
He also said that a lack of regulations was preventing progress and said the government needed to establish a national water regulation board to ensure universal access to clean water.
As part of its National Mid-Term Development Plan, the Indonesian Government wants to provide access to clean drinking water to all of its citizens by 2019. But Subekti said that it would be impossible to attain that goal without significant action on the part of the government itself. .
