Papua ranks lowest in MDG achievement on clean water

Papua is lagging behind the rest of the country in its effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) target on clean water and sanitation, an official says.

Director General for Urban Development (Cipta Karya) Budi Yuwono said on Wednesday the country’s easternmost province ranked the lowest on the MDG achievement with only 34 percent of its population having access to clean water, far below the national average mark of 47.63 percent.

South Kalimantan heads the list as clean water is accessible to 70 percent of the province’s population, exceeding the national target of 60.30 percent set for 2015.

Budi said poor infrastructure, difficult terrains and the poorly managed regional water company there were blamed for Papua’s failure to match the achievements of other provinces.

“Many customers of the company have not been connected to the tap water network. This shows how poor the company’s management is,” Budi told a seminar in Makassar.

He added, however, most regional water companies in East Indonesia did not perform either due to poor management. The government data revealed that only two regional water companies in South Sulawesi met the minimum standard of service.

Budi said the government would allocate Rp 34 trillion over the coming four years to accelerate fulfillment of MDG target on access to clean water.