Becoming The Host Of The 10th World Water Forum, Indonesia Will Discuss The Challenges Of Availability Of Drinking Water

Director General Of CK PUPR Diana Kusumastuti At The FMB9 Press Conference (photo: Rana/VOI)

JAKARTA Indonesia will host the 10th World Water Forum event. This event to handle water issues globally will be held in Bali from 18 to 24 May.

The event with the theme Water for Shared Prosperity will discuss efforts to increase clean water through three processes, namely politics, thematics, and regionals. These three aspects will be aligned to produce real solutions.

"The synergy of these three processes is of course needed in an effort to realize water as a means for mutual prosperity," said Director General of Human Settlements of the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Diana Kusumastuti at the FMB9 Press Conference.

Of the six sub-themes to be discussed, Indonesia will focus on the sub-themes of Water for Humans and Nature. In this sub-themage, the government will discuss the importance of improving drinking water and sanitation services to protect humans and the environment.

Diana explained that the quality of water in Indonesia is still very lacking. Although access to suitable drinking water has reached 91.08 percent, access to safe drinking water is still very lacking. In 2020, access to safe drinking water only reached 11.8 percent.

Since 2017, the safe rate of drinking water has not reached 1 percent. This slow percentage shows that the government must look for ways to increase access to safe drinking water through piping.

Although the government is trying to increase pipeline access over the past few years, there are several challenges that make it difficult for them. Apart from climate change, the increasing population also reduces water availability.

The reason is, the need for water is increasing, but the water transfer process is not yet optimal. Diana said that, "Water cannot move from the river to each water tap because there must be an operator, there must be a pipe, there must be a pump."

These various processes show that the provision of safe drinking water is still quite difficult. Especially if Indonesia is being hit by a climate that is not good for water availability, such as dryness, climate change and so on.

Meanwhile, Diana also strictly prohibits the use of ground water. Although this water is very suitable for use, the public must be aware of the problems caused in the future. This groundwater will be related to land subsidence.

"Don't use groundwater. If you use groundwater continuously, eventually there will be land subsidence. Jakarta alone may have decreased groundwater. Well, Jakarta must no longer be allowed," said Diana.