The representative of USAID/Washington Global Water Office, Nga Nguyen, appreciates the community of Babakan Pasar urban village in Bogor city for changing their WASH behavior. Nga Nguyen gave her appreciation when visiting the urban village on October 21, 2019.
She said, many people in Babakan Pasar urban village are clearly motivated to change [switching open defecation habit to using toilets with septic tanks] and there are many good progresses in WASH access improvement.
During this visit, Nga Nguyen also discussed WASH access in Babakan urban village with the government, participatory monitoring and evaluation teams, and beneficiaries.
Although Babakan Pasar urban village is only 6km away from the Bogor Presidential Palace, some community still practice open defecation and some others have toilets without septic tanks. Thus, they dispose human waste directly from the toilet to a river.
In terms of water access, majority of the people use PDAM water, but some others use river water.
In order to improve such situation, the government, KOTAKU, health office, PUPR office, community, and USAID IUWASH PLUS have conducted several measures, including public awareness raising.
Currently, 22 households in Babakan Pasar urban village have built toilets with septic tanks, and 39 others are building the facilities using local government subsidies.
