"With regard to efforts to fulfill the need for clean water, I laud the initiative of the Ministry of SOEs that has made a breakthrough through the Indonesia Water Fund (IWF) Program," Amin noted at the opening of the SOE International Conference and the launch of the Indonesia Water Fund in Jakarta on Monday.
Vice President Amin remarked that the IWF was a breakthrough in accelerating clean water distribution in accordance with the mandate of the Indonesian Constitution that recognizes and guarantees the right to water.
"The Indonesian Constitution recognizes and guarantees the right to water as an embodiment of the fulfillment of the human rights of the Indonesian people as well as a form of social human rights in which the role and involvement of the Government is a necessity," he remarked.
To this end, the vice president emphasized that the management of water as a national wealth as well as the needs of the people aims to realize prosperity and justice for all Indonesian people.
Amin emphasized that the existence of water is not only fundamental to support human life, but it is also essential to maintain a temperature balance for the survival of all creatures on earth.
Globally, currently, around two billion people, or 26 percent of the world's population do not have good access to safe drinking water. Meanwhile, the United Nations General Assembly in 2010 recognized that access to safe drinking water is a human right.
Hence, he said, increasing access to safe drinking water is also included in the Sustainable Development Goals that must be achieved by 2030, specifically "Realizing Access to Safe and Sustainable Drinking Water and Sanitation for All".
According to the vice president, access to clean water and proper sanitation is a vital variable that determines the quality of individual health that will have an impact of 70 percent on the stunting reduction efforts.
“The government has set a target in the 2020-2024 national medium-term development program (RPJMN) that 100 percent of households have access to safe drinking water by 2024, including 15-percent access to safe drinking water and 30-percent access to piped drinking water. However, the trend of increasing clean water service coverage still requires intensive encouragement. In the last three years, the coverage of safe drinking water has only increased by 1.5 percent," he noted.
The 2021 National Socio-Economic Survey (Susenas) noted that households with access to safe drinking water only reached 90.78 percent, with around 12 percent of the households having access to safe drinking water and approximately 19 percent having access to piped drinking water.
"This temporary achievement should be an alarm for us. The remaining time up to 2024 must be optimized to encourage the acceleration of our performance together," he stated.
Based on the need for clean water that is still quite high and urgent, the Indonesian government has targeted the improvement of clean water facilities for the Indonesian people through a sustainable economic system, so that people can make the most of the results of the equitable distribution of clean water services.
In this regard, the vice president lauded the initiative of the Ministry of SOEs for the IWF Program.
Amin expressed optimism that the existence of IWF, as a platform to support the acceleration of investment in providing clean water connections to houses (SR), can be an alternative solution for the government through non-state budget (APBN) funding.
“However, the government and SOEs cannot work alone in an effort to fulfill the need for clean water. We need the participation of the business world, philanthropy, professional organizations, academia, the media, and non-governmental organizations," he stated.
“This network must be developed strongly and be well-coordinated. For this reason, this international conference can be used as an arena to develop networks in increasing public access to clean water,” the vice president stated.
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Translator: Rangga P, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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