19 countries to participate in World Toilet Summit

SURAKARTA. As many as 386 participants from 19 countries will attend the 13th World Toilet Summit, set to take place in Surakarta from Oct. 2 to 4, the World Toilet Organization founder, Jack Sim is also expected to attend.

The summit, held for the first time in Indonesia, will be opened with the Training on Trainers session on Sept. 30 and Oct.1, which will be attended by 230 participants. The participants will be informed about two issues: the waste water processing system (IPAL) and how to properly clean a toilet.

“We want to make the public aware of the importance of hygiene and sanitation,” The 2013 World Toilet Summit’s organizing committee head, Naning Adiwoso, said on Tuesday.

On Thursday, the participants will attend the World Toilet Carnival, an event to campaign the sanitation awareness.

“The carnival theme is sanitation and its related technology because we want to educate people on the best practices in sanitation,” said Naning.

Citing observation-based data, Naning said around 80 percent of the communal toilets in Surakarta were managed well. This was a hopeful start to increasing people’s awareness on sanitation, as around 40 percent of cities in Indonesia did not yet have adequate access to sanitation.

“But don’t think they are just small cities. In fact, it is big cities often neglect sanitation,” said Naning. (Kusumasari Ayuningtyas/The Jakarta Post)