PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRANTS IGNORE SANITATION ISSUE: DEVELOPMENT PLANNING OFFICIAL

Jakarta, June 18 (ANTARA) - None of the presidential and vice presidential candidates have in their campaigns so far raised the questions of sanitation and the people's access to clean water, a national development planning official said.

"Bad sanitation in the country needs the best possible solution but the presidential and vice presidential aspirants do not mention it at all in their campaigns," National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) director for housing and settlement Budi Hidayat said here on Thursday.

He said the issue of sanitation and clean water facilities was as important as the economic and development programs offered by the presidential and vice presidential pairs but they made no mention of it.

According to Budi Hidayat, good sanitation and clean water facilities would have a positive impact on people's health while economic and development programs could only run well if the people were healthy.

"The presidential and vice presidential candidates should not ignore the issue of sanitation and clean water facilities," Hidayat said on the sidelines of a seminar on total people-based sanitation.

He said bad management of sanitation and clean water facilities was causing the state to suffer losses of up to Rp53 trillion every year.

"The losses are caused by people who cannot work well because of their bad state of health. So, with good sanitation and better management of clean water facilities, the people will stay healthy and work optimally," Hidayat said.

Therefore, he expressed hope that the next government would pay due attention to issues related to good sanitation and clean water facilities both in urban and rural areas.

Hidayat said Bappenas would cooperate with a number of parties, among others the health ministry and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in its effort to introduce a Total People-based Sanitation Program (STBM).

The program, he said, would include provision of better public toilets, better drinking water management, and safe household trash management.