PUPR Minister Says Indonesia Continues To Accelerate Improvement Of Clean Water And Sanitation To Eliminate Poverty

Minister of PUPR Basuki Hadimuljono. (Antaranews)

JAKARTA - Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Basuki Hadimuljono said expanding access to clean water and safe sanitation is one of the keys to reducing poverty.

According to him, Indonesia is pushing to accelerate the expansion of access by launching a number of programs.

"Indonesia has made good progress in accelerating the improvement of access to water, sanitation and hygiene," said PUPR Minister Basuki at a ministerial-level meeting of the Sector Ministers' Meeting (SMM) Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) 2022 in Jakarta on Wednesday 18 May.

Basuki said that around 80.2 percent of Indonesia's population has access to proper sanitation, but only 7 percent of Indonesia's population enjoys safe sanitation.

Regarding access to safe drinking water, more than 90 percent of the population has been able to do this, but the achievement of access to safe drinking water is only around 11 percent.

For this reason, Indonesia encourages the strengthening of political commitment to accelerate the achievement of safe water and sanitation to support efforts to reduce stunting and extreme poverty.

Basuki said the issue of water and its supply is also an important key to reducing stunting and extreme poverty, especially in rural areas.

He highlighted that the Indonesian government has committed to eradicate extreme poverty to zero percent by 2024 from four percent in 2021.

"The strategy to achieve this is through a cross-sectoral development approach in several priority areas. By 2021, in 35 priority districts, poverty alleviation programs have been implemented," he explained.

This includes programs related to water, sanitation and housing that focus on large areas which are then followed by strengthening community capacity.