Burdensome tap water<\/p>\n
After its success in pressing the city administration to
\napprove a 40 percent increase in the tap water tariff in April,
\nthe city-owned tap water company PT PAM Jaya, joining its foreign
\npartners, is requesting another 30 percent price increase.<\/p>\n
Therefore, if the request is granted, there will be two
\nincreases in the tap water tariff in only seven months.<\/p>\n
Unlike the April increase, the latest across-the-board
\nincrease -- if approved -- could be said to be slightly inhumane
\nbecause orphanages and places of worship classified under Group I
\nas well as small homes (Group II) will also be subject to the
\nincrease.<\/p>\n
According to the proposal, consumers classified under Group I
\nand Group II must pay, respectively, Rp 650, (up from Rp 375) and
\nRp 1,200 per liter of water, (from Rp 650). Hotels and night
\nestablishments, which are classified under Group IVB, must pay Rp
\n8,200 per liter, or Rp 1,500 higher than the current tariff.<\/p>\n
The classic reason for the request is the huge debt owed by
\nPAM Jaya to its English partner, PT Thames PAM Jaya (TPJ), and PT
\nPAM Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja) from France.<\/p>\n
One Jakarta-based evening daily reported that the two foreign
\ncompanies' debts amounted to more than Rp 100 billion. Achmad
\nLanti, the head of the Tap Water Regulating Agency in Jakarta,
\nwas quoted as saying that total debts owed by PAM Jaya --
\nincluding the two partners' debts -- amounted to Rp 1.8 trillion.
\nThat amount does not include a Rp 990 billion shortfall suffered
\nby the two foreign firms since they joined PAM Jaya in 1997.<\/p>\n
Whatever the case, the question is, why should the consumers
\nbe burdened with the companies' debts, which among other things
\nare probably due to the high-cost economy?<\/p>\n
So heavy is the burden of the England-based companies
\napparently that the British Ambassador to Indonesia, Richard
\nGozney, felt it necessary to discuss the matter with Vice
\nPresident Hamzah Haz.<\/p>\n
The statements of officials on the leakage of tap water due to
\ntheft and old pipes are interesting. Before PAM Jaya joined with
\nthe foreign partners, the leakage due to thefts and an antiquated
\npipe network reached 55 percent. Currently the companies are said
\nto have minimized the leakage to about 47 percent of the total
\n500 million cubic meters of tap water distributed each year. Some
\n900,000 households in the city are listed as tap water consumers.
\nOfficials involved in the tap water businesses reported in the
\n1980s that between 45 and 48 percent of the water produce was
\nlost due to leakage.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the City Council's Commission C, Bimo Hapsoro,
\nsaid that water leakage before PAM Jaya started cooperating with
\nits two partners was more than 62 percent. The deal between PAM
\nand the foreign firms stipulated that the companies agreed to
\nminimize the leakage to only 35 percent within five years.<\/p>\n
\"But the leakage is still around 50 percent. This means that
\nthe foreign companies have cheated the city administration, City
\nCouncil and the people,\" Bimo said.<\/p>\n
Whatever the reasons are for increasing the tap water tariff,
\nPAM Jaya should be aware that its proposal on the new tariff is
\nobviously unfair as it fails to take into consideration the
\nservices it provides to consumers.<\/p>\n
PT TPJ's director said last Thursday that as many as 9,000
\ncomplaints are lodged by consumers every month; 6,000 are handled
\nby PT TPJ and the rest by Palyja.<\/p>\n
Rhamses Simanjuntak, communication and relations director of
\nPT TPJ, however, said that 6,000 complaints were not a
\nsignificant number compared to the companies' 360,000 consumers.
\nHe said an average of \"only\" 200 complaints per day was normal.<\/p>\n
Reports have it that the complaints vary greatly. A West
\nJakarta resident said that water from his taps started to flow at
\nabout 8 p.m. every day. A housewife living in Petamburan, also
\nWest Jakarta, said that the tap water in her home only flows for
\nsix hours, between midnight and 6 a.m. every day.<\/p>\n
It would be wise for PAM Jaya and PT TPJ and Palyja to try to
\nfind a way to build some kind of mutual respect with the public
\nby striving to improve their services, instead of orienting
\nthemselves toward financial profits only.<\/p>\n
And while waiting for the results of the audit being carried
\nout by a foreign consultant, it is imperative that the city
\nadministration rethinks the whole concept of the proposed
\nincrease.<\/p>\n
Bimo's statement, which proposes that detailed and thorough
\nreports from PAM Jaya and its partners must be submitted before
\nthe new tariff is approved, is altogether reasonable and
\nacceptable.<\/p>",
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