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The opening day of the National Conference on Sanitation in Jakarta on Tuesday was marked by the stark reality that hopes of building modern sanitation systems to combat a problem that costs the country $6.15 billion per year remains little more than a pipe dream.

The three-day forum was organized by the Sanitation Development Technical Team (TTPS), a group formed in 2006 by the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) and the ministries of health, public works, home affairs, the environment and public housing.

The conference is being attended by regional health officials and industry executives to discuss ways to accelerate sanitation’s development as a basic service.

Armida Alisjahbana, head of Bappenpas, said she was attempting to coordinate with several ministers to increase the effectiveness of the People-Based Sanitation Program that was launched in 2005 for nationwide implementation by 2014.

Speaking during a discussion at the forum, a health official from Palembang, the second largest city on Sumatra, said she was happy the city had been selected as one of 10 metros to participate in a pilot project as part of the program. However, she noted that the city did not even have an off-site waste management system, which was more costly to build than a water treatment plant.

The woman, who did not identify herself, was commenting on one of the targets of the ambitious program, which was to provide 10 percent of the population with access to off-site waste management by 2014.

“Furthermore, I don’t think that private industry would like to collaborate in this kind of program when the cost-recovery is very little or none at all,” she said. “I think the government should really provide the funds for this, like the World Bank, which has recently granted us funds to build a sanitation system for drinking water.”

She was responding to comments from Armida, who said she was hoping regional governments would collaborate with the private sector to fund and build sanitation projects in the regions. “The funding scenario is that the central government would only contribute between 30 to 60 percent for projects,” Armida said.

Another speaker at the forum, who said he was a regional development officer from Bandung, said the Education Ministry needed to be included in the TTPS because the problem was also cultural.

“As local content for our curriculum, we included classes about domestic waste management in schools, so we believe the Education Ministry should take part in this program as well,” he said.

Vice President Boediono, speaking at the Vice Presidential Palace before the conference opened, said only 29 percent of people in the nation had access to proper on-site sanitation facilities.

“It is part of the Millennium Development Goals that by 2015, at least 59.1 percent of people will have access to sanitation that meets basic standards,” he said. “This is the minimum target. We will try and surpass it.”

Boediono said that based on World Bank research conducted in 2007, losses caused by poor sanitation may have reached Rp 58 trillion ($6.15 billion), or 2.3 percent of gross domestic product, per year.

“The losses are from wasted productivity due to illness recovery costs as the result of the poor environment and problems with economic activities,” he said. “Aside from the monetary cost, there are other aspects, such as quality of life.”

As part of its five-year program, the government plans to invest Rp 55 trillion in sanitation across the archipelago. Boediono hinted, however, that the state was looking to invest more.

“From 1970 to 2004, the yearly investment for sanitation was Rp 200 each person. In the last five years, it has been increased to Rp 5,000 per person per year,” he said.

“The ideal amount is Rp 47,000 each person per year.”