Neighborhood Units 6 and 7 of Sukamaju village are psyched to have new deep wells constructed in their areas

Medan. Lack of access to clean water is one of so many of life’s problems faced by the people in Neighborhood Units 6 and 7, Sukamaju Village, Langkat, North Sumatra. Despite the fact that the Community Units are located in the watershed area for two major rivers, Wampu and Besitang, the quality of the water is very poor due to heavy pollution from domestic and industrial waste in the ridge area. Still, from cooking to washing, people use the contaminated water for their daily activities.

“With such an unhealthy lifestyle, no wonder the number of diarrhea cases is high here,” says Ati, one of the residents.

At the end of 2006, ESP and local NGO PARAS began the development of three deep wells in Neighborhood Units 6 and 7. The one in Neighborhood Unit 7 has a generator, which also functions as a source of electricity at night for the area, which is not covered by state electricity company service.

The new facilities are managed by local communities that are members of three Credit Unions (CU) called Melati, Mawar and Kenanga. The Credit Unions are groups that sell the clean water from the wells for Rp 300 (less than one cent) per jerry can, with 60% of the profit going to CU members in the form of year-end dividends, while the remaining 40% is used to pay the operational costs of the wells. Members of the CUs, mostly women, are also in charge of the maintenance and the daily operation of the wells.

After four months of managing the wells, the three CUs have collected a total income of Rp 6 million (US$ 600). The members agree that when they have enough, they would like to build another well in another Neighborhood Unit.

“The deep well construction is like a 3-in 1- program for us. It gives us three benefits; clean water, electricity and an organization to save our money on,” said Ati, 42, head of CU Melati.

Julian Syah, ESP North Sumatra