By Andreas Harsono*

BANDUNG, Indonesia, Nov 28 (IPS/AMIC) - Water vendor Annur Sukarya makes a 500 percent profit on his investments each month, the envy of any businessman. “I’m just trying to help my neighbours,” he argues.

By Zofeen Ebrahim

SEOUL, Nov 25 (IPS) - The one message that came across at the just concluded general assembly of the World Toilet Association (WTA) was that conventional flush toilets are not only environment unfriendly but are also a serious public health hazard.

   By Shailendra Singh*

VUNISINU, Fiji, Nov 24 (IPS/AMIC) - If villagers so used to eating fish caught fresh from the sea begin resorting to tinned fish to supplement their diets, there must be something really wrong somewhere.

By Zofeen Ebrahim

SEOUL, Nov 24 (IPS) - It was a happy day for Sim Jae-Duck. "The World Toilet Association (WTA) history has begun,’’ said the president of the newly formed association at the close, Friday, of the four-day assembly in which it was formally established.

By Zofeen Ebrahim

SEOUL, Nov 22 (IPS) - The rhythmic beat seemed to roll away cultural taboos surrounding the act of defecation at the inaugural conference of the World Toilet Association (WTA).

By Irfan Shahzad*

KEERANWALA, Pakistan, Nov 21 (IPS) – Mansha, a middle-aged farmer here in this village in Punjab province, surveys his ready-to-harvest rice crop with delight and is optimistic about the next wheat crop to be sown after the rice harvest in mid-November.

By Kalinga Seneviratne*

LILOAN, Philippines, Nov 17 (IPS/AMIC) - This municipality of 80,000 people living in 14 ‘barangay’ or villages has a spectacular five-kilometre beach that is popular with beachgoers. During weekends, they come in droves from Cebu City, just a 30-minute drive away.

By Prangtip Daorueng*

CHACHOENGSAO, Thailand, Nov 16 (IPS/AMIC) - "The river has changed. It has become narrow and unusually dry in the dry season," says fisherman Pohnpaisarn Wimonrat. "There is no longer enough fish for a small fisherman like me to catch."

By Marwaan Macan-Markar

BANGKOK, Nov 14 (IPS) - The campaign to save South-east Asia’s largest waterway from being blocked by a series of massive dams picked up pace this week, with activists accusing a regional river authority of abandoning its mission to protect the Mekong River.

By Kalinga Seneviratne*

MANILA, Nov 12 (IPS/AMIC) - Supporters call it a model for the future. But critics say it is a conspiracy by multilateral financial institutions to privatise water supplies and open the floodgates for multinational corporations to reap profits from Asia’s poor.

By Irfan Shahzad*

KARACHI, Pakistan, Nov 2 (IPS/AMIC) – Access to safe water may be touted as a human right, but inadequate supplies, crumbling water systems and the galloping needs of growing populations are forcing experts, government utilities and funding agencies ponder over devising sustainable water service networks in Asia’s teeming cities.