USAID IUWASH Tangguh continues to increase citizens’ access to safely managed sanitation in the coastal district of Takalar (South Sulawesi) through improved policies, regulations, and workforce professionalism.
Mr. Kamaluddin, affectionately known as “Kamal”, is one of the local champions that USAID IUWASH Tangguh works closely with to expand safely managed sanitation access in Takalar District—located just 36 kilometers south of the provincial capital, Makassar. As the Sub-Coordinator for Environmental Health at the district’s Public Works and Spatial Planning Agency (PUTR PKP), Kamal is responsible for managing the region’s critical infrastructures related to drainage, domestic wastewater, and safe drinking water facilities.
With a population of 300,000 people (2020)[1], Takalar district relies on a single septage treatment plant (Instalasi Pengelolaan Lumpur Tinja or IPLT), with a capacity of 6m3/day, to treat fecal sludge. The treatment plant was built in 2016 but was left inoperable for years due to changes in the management and lack of personnel. According to the Public Works and Spatial Planning Office, although almost all households in the region have access to improved sanitation, in 2022 only 3.7 percent or around 11,498 people them have access to safely managed sanitation—where operators treat domestic wastewater and fecal sludge safely.
The drainage network is basically an “open defecation trench” and is heavily contaminated with black water, which can cause diseases outbreaks if left untreated.
According to Kamal, fecal contamination slowly pollutes the ecosystem with serious long-term repercussions. “One of the negative impacts is the decrease in the quality of ground water (wells), which is easily identified by the change in color and odor”, explained Kamal.
To address these issues, USAID IUWASH Tangguh focused on developing the competence of the local domestic wastewater facility human resources as well as strengthening the regulatory framework on WASH issues.
In the first half of 2023, USAID IUWASH Tangguh’s experts trained personnel from domestic wastewater management under the Public Works and Spatial Planning Office on how to improve management and operability of the local IPLT. During the training, Kamal and 22 other participants learned the basic principles of operating and maintaining the IPLT and scheduled desludging service. In the training, the participants learned various topics on wastewater policy and regulation, on-site management principles, effluent quality monitoring, roles and responsibilities, and community empowerment.
The class-room sessions and field training gave him a better perspective to understand issues related to sanitation in the community. Kamal realized that that his community has poor sanitation, “Initially, I did not consider sanitation an important issue. Safely managed sanitation goes beyond infrastructure, but also encompasses fostering positive behavior in the community.”
Thanks to USAID IUWASH Tangguh, the capacity building initiative provided Kamal and his colleagues with the technical knowledge and skills to properly operate the septage treatment plant using standardized practices. In addition to improving human resource’s capacity, USAID IUWASH Tangguh supported the Public Works and Spatial Planning Office to develop an ad-hoc team. With Kamal as team leader, the team will manage domestic wastewater in the district, until the government establishes a permanent one.
[1] BPS Takalar https://web.facebook.com/bps7305/photos/a.564218543749130/1755068621330777/
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