SP/Hendro Situmorang – The Sultan Syarif Kasim II airport in Pekanbaru has emerged victorious in the Sapta Pesona cleanest airport toilet of the year award.
"This award plays an important role in creating a culture of hygiene in public services," Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said on Friday. "Especially in... public toilets – it gives rise to a positive image in the eyes of domestic or foreign tourists."
Frequent travelers around the archipelago have been known to express the view that competition for the award should be something short of fierce, but the judging methodology appears to indicate that hygiene in Indonesia's airports is being taking seriously – Sultan Syarif Kasim II led the leader-board with the fairly precise score of 89.62.
The second-best toilet experience in Indonesia can be found at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (83.62), while there was also room on the podium for Juanda airport in Surabaya, which was given a 79.82 by a jury composed of experts from the Indonesian Toilet Association, the tourism ministry, the Consumer Protection Foundation and the media.
Bali's Ngurah Rai was placed fifth, though observers will probably be keen to see whether the airport's soon-to-open renovation will have the judges in a more generous mood next year.
The jury found room for improvement at Jakarta' Halim Perdanakusuma Jakarta (75.74) and the Minangkabau airport in Padang (75.60), which were ranked ninth and tenth, respectively. Soekarno Hatta's silver medal will be welcome news to State-Owned Enterprises Minister, Dahlan Iskan. Dahlan took matters into his own hands and cleaned the floors before boarding a plane to Surabaya after stumbling into a sub-standard facility last year.
"There is not a single piece of paper or cigarette butt anymore. We have changed [cleaning service] providers for the bathrooms in every terminal," an official told Tempo.co. in August, 2012. "Even if a person is holding his or nose, they can smell the fragrance."
The biannual award has been held since 2007 as part of the government's efforts to not only promote a culture of hygiene but also to show appreciation for PT Angkasa Pura I and PT Angkasa Pura II – the two state-owned firms managing and operating airports across the country. A separate award exists for zoos and museums.
Sanitation is a serious issue in the country, where communicable disease such as typhus and diarrhea remain priorities for health authorities. A recent report by the UN on countries' progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goals found that Indonesia was falling behind.
"Indonesia is the second ranking country in the world where 63 million people don't have toilets," said Angela Kearney, the Unicef representative to Indonesia, while a 2011 survey by the World Toilet Organization found Indonesia's toilets were among the dirtiest in Asia, with around 80 million germs found on a single specimen.