A latrine manufacturer from Tangerang District, PT Feel Well Ceramics (FWC) visited RT 02/RW 03 in Sarakan village—a USAID IUWASH PLUS working area in Tangerang district on November 6, 2018. The project invited PT FWC, represented by its Co-Founder—Stevia Angesty, to visit the site to provide the company with a real picture on the sanitation access in community and to motivate the company to contribute to sanitation access improvement in the area.
This visit was made as a follow up on discussions between USAID IUWASH PLUS and PT FWC on the possibility to establish a cooperation in sanitation sector. In early 2018, USAID IUWASH PLUS introduced the safely managed sanitation concept to Stevia as the FWC Co-Founder. She showed big interests in the safely-managed sanitation. Since then, USAID IUWASH PLUS has conducted several discussions with Stevia on this issue, and encouraged the company to produce fabricated septic tanks. Stevia is interested in this idea. She wants FWC to produce knock down septic tanks.
During the field visit, Stevia witnessed poor sanitation habits that some community members are still practicing and talked to a couple of people. Based on the data from SANIMAS IDB (Sanitasi Berbasis Masyarakat/Community Based Sanitation program funded by Islamic Development Bank) in 2018, RT 02/RW 03 of Sarakan village has 127 households. Of these households, only three households have septic tanks. About 20% of the households in Serakan village do not have latrines and cannot afford to build ones. They usually go to yard, rivers, gutters, or neighbor’s houses to defecate.
“I do not have a toilet at home. My child usually defecates here [pointing to a small hole in a washing area in a kitchen]. I usually go to my relative’s house to defecate. I only make a living from selling brooms, so I do not have any money to build a toilet,” said Sap, a community member.
“Many people do not have access to proper sanitation facilities. Some people still defecate in river and use the water for laundry. I feel really sorry about them,” said Stevia.
“When there is a sanitation program [from FWC], we do not need to go far. There are many people in Tangerang district who still need help to access sanitation facilities,” she added.
In addition, USAID IUWASH PLUS also invited Stevia to observe the construction of an IPAL (Wastewater Treatment Plant) Komunal built by SANIMAS IDB in RT 02/RW 03 since August 2018. The facility is designed to serve 100 households. The IPAL Komunal construction is expected to complete in December 2018. Once it is completed, the IPAL Komunal will serve 81 households.
PT FWC is a manufacturer of sink and squatting toilets based in Tangerang district and began its operation in 2015. Around 2015–2016, PT FWC successfully produced affordable and quality latrines under MCAI (Millennium Challenge Account Indonesia) program in West Java.
