Jakarta, IO – “Dirty water kills more people than war!” A message echoed by Mark Pramana, Kayson Sunjoto, Amanda Widjanarko, Bianca Goenawan, and Christie Arianne Lim. As part of The Spring Organization, the five high school students are advocating for easy and safe access to clean water for people’s daily needs, including washing, drinking and other water consumption.
The Spring Organization has begun to raise funds through various activities and merchandise sales to provide easy access to clean water in Kiijem and Kidoso, two villages located in Tangerang Regency, Banten, both settlements in desperate need of clean water access. The Spring Organization also built communal sanitation for bathing, washing, and toilets (MCK).
The Spring Organization officially inaugurated clean water facilities in the two villages on Saturday, November 4, 2023, after a work period of 1 month and 10 days. Kayson Sunjoto, the Project Development Manager of The Spring Organization, explained that the two villages were selected to receive the aid as both had previously relied on water from the Cisadane River, which has now been badly polluted and is no longer suitable for consumption.
“Today we are launching the 7th and 8th wells, as part of the Spring project. The river water used to be so dirty from the oil, bacteria and chemicals polluting the water and turning the water black,” said Kayson during the communal sanitation project inauguration in Kampung Kiijem. The residents of Kampung Kiijem and Kidoso will no longer need to fetch water from the contaminated river.
“Now people can use the clean water from communal source, which is much more convenient and clean, for bathing, washing clothes, and other purposes,” explained Mark Pramana, CEO and Project Manager of The Spring Organization. “This water comes from wells, not from the polluted river,” Mark added.
Easy access to clean water shows The Spring Organization’s concern, which was highly appreciated by the local residents. At first, there were only 6 households (KK) in Kampung Kiijem, reaping the benefits of the program. As time went by, another 30 households joined the program. Meanwhile, in Kidoso, there are about 73 households.
Read: 115,000 Army Personnel Deployed To Secure The 2024 Elections
Kiijem’s communal sanitation facility was constructed on land belonging to Suwandi (38), which was highly anticipated by the village’s locals.
“Our residents had to go to the stream flowing by the Cisadane River to get clean water. The river became unfit for water consumption since it was polluted in 2005 due to waste and effluents,” said Suwandi.
The Spring Organization expects the young generation to participate by accessing the official Instagram account @thespringorg. (des/ast)