Tens of Millions Indonesians Still Practice Open Defecation
14 April 2014 05:22 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - At least 57 million Indonesians still practice open defecation with 40 millions of them living in rural areas, according to a World Bank report.
"Indonesia is facing a huge challenge in basic sanitation because half of those living in villages have no access to proper toilets," said President of the the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim, in an official statement, Saturday, April 12, 2014.
World Bank estimated that around 2.5 billion people in the world have no access to toilets.
The figure includes those who practice open defecation in the rivers and in open spaces.
The practice can potentially spread viruses and bacteria from feces to water, food and clothes. As a result, it can cause diarrhea, which is blamed for the death of thousands of children every day.
Almost 1.9 billion of the world population has had access to proper toilets since 1990s and this issue has become one of the main priorities of the Millennium Development Goals.
However, in its implementation, the target has not met the expected results.
World Bank said that it has given its supports to the government in terms of improvement of sanitary access through the clean water project.
MARIA YUNIAR
