Indonesia – Community operation and maintenance of water supply and sanitation services enhances impact, increases sustainability and decreases costs

BACKGROUND. In Eastern Indonesia, only 23% of the population has access to improved sources of water supply. Despite the investment of $53M to improve this condition in the last 20 years, around 40% of rural water infrastructure was not functioning. THE PROJECT. Since 1999, Plan International, a child-centered community development organization has invested $368,800 in Sikka District to construct 26 water system facilities, mainly gravity water systems, to benefit 16,778 people. Moreover, 23 village water sanitation committees were established to increase the role of communities in the operation and maintenance of the built water supply facilities. To enhance sustainability, the establishment of these committees and their operation pre-dates the building of related infrastructure. Built infrastructure is of simple design, with spare parts available at the nearest supplier in the district town. Moreover, this infrastructure is child-friendly, e.g. public water taps are built to facilitate their use by children. Hygiene education is provided to community members and at schools. RESULTS. Reported cases of diarrhea have fallen from 10,866 cases (in 2005) to 8,095 cases (in 2009). Community members were able to increase their income per-capita from $76 (in 2002) to $170 (in 2009). The running costs of these systems are low, i.e. $3/person/year, making them easy to sustain for village committees. CONCLUSIONS. Community-managed water supply systems are successful and sustainable. The Sikka Local Government is adopting this comprehensive approach for their own water and sanitation investments.