USAID IUWASH PLUS and Coca-Cola Foundation (CCFI) held the 2019 World Water Day on March 22, 2019 in Surabaya. This celebration consisted of coffee morning, inauguration of the master meter system construction, and media discussion.
USAID Mission Director, Erin McKee; Director of Urban, Housing, and Settlement of Bappenas, Tri Dewi Virgiyanti; U.S Consul General, Mark McGovern, Service Director of PDAM Surabaya, Anizar Firmadi; Director of CCFI, Titie Sadarini; community members of Semarang street, Bubutan urban village, local and national journalists, USAID and USAID IUWASH PLUS teams participated in this event.
During the coffee morning, USAID Mission Director, Erin McKee, handed the gift to Siti Ngaisah, the First Winner of Photo and Story Competition for the 2019 World Water Day held by USAID IUWASH PLUS.
Following the coffee morning, USAID Mission Director, Director of Urban, Housing, and Settlement of Bappenas, U.S General Consul in Surabaya, Service Director of PDAM Surabaya, and the Director of CCFI inaugurated the master meter system construction at Semarang street in Bubutan urban village. This master meter system is built through a multi-stakeholder partnership among PDAM Surabaya, USAID IUWASH PLUS, and CCFI.
“For Coca-Cola, water is the main priority because, related to the business operation, water is used for our main raw material. In addition, water accessibility for community is essential to sustain our business. Therefore, water is one of the main focuses in all Coca-Cola’s activities, including social and sustainability,” said Titie Sadarini.
Not only in Bubutan urban village, has CCFI also supported the master meter system construction in ten other urban villages in Surabaya. The multi-stakeholder with CCFI is the biggest multi-stakeholder partnership for the master meter program in Surabaya facilitated by USAID IUWASH PLUS.
Besides CCFI, USAID IUWASH PLUS also facilitates PDAM Surabaya to establish partnership with several private firms since 2018. This partnership will build 30 master meter with 1,200 house connections to serve 6.000 people.
“PDAM Surabaya’s current coverage reaches 98%. I hope the master meter will assist us to achieve 100% coverage,” said the Service Director of PDAM Surabaya, Anizar Firmadi.
USAID Mission Director, Erin McKee, said “through IUWASH PLUS program, USAID will continue supporting the Government of Indonesia in planning, implementing, and funding of urban water access, including the 2% Surabayans who still need access to piped water.”
To conclude the celebration, the local and national journalists participated in a media discussion on the 2019 World Water Day and master meter program in Surabaya.
