Clean water still a luxury for many Jakartans<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
For Lieswati, 27, clean water is truly a luxury as every night
\nshe must stay up to fill several buckets and a bath tub with
\nwater for the family's daily needs due to the poor tap water
\nsupply.<\/p>\n
\"The flow is abysmal during the day as a result of the low
\npressure. The pressure only gets better at night -- until about 6
\na.m.,\" said the resident of a crowded area in Kota, West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Lieswati grumbled that sometimes the water was cut off,
\nforcing her to spend more money on buying water from a pushcart
\nwater vendor.<\/p>\n
\"Last week, for instance, the water was off all day long. I
\nhad to spend more than Rp 7,000 (85 U.S. cents) on a couple of
\nbuckets of water I bought from the water vendor,\" she complained.<\/p>\n
According to Lieswati, residents in her neighborhood have no
\nother option but to rely on the poor tap water service.<\/p>\n
\"We simply cannot use ground water as the wells are highly
\npolluted as a result of being too close to the septic tanks,\"
\nexplained Lieswati.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Anwar S, 30, a resident of Halim, East Jakarta, who
\nalso complained about the poor tap water service, is able to use
\nground water.<\/p>\n
\"But, I have to pay more for the electricity used by the water
\njet pump, which is much higher than the water charges,\" said
\nAnwar.<\/p>\n
Before using the pump, Anwar used to pay Rp 40,000 on water
\ncharges and Rp 70,000 on electricity, but since he started using
\nthe pump, he has to pay Rp 15,000 for the water and Rp 120,000
\nfor the electricity.<\/p>\n
Worse still, Anwar said, the tap water quality was getting
\nworse, and the water had a bad smell.<\/p>\n
\"I am considering purchasing bottled water for cooking and
\ndrinking purposes,\" said Anwar.<\/p>\n
Some residents of Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta, and Kayu
\nManis and Rawabunga, Jatinegara, both in East Jakarta, also
\nexpressed similar complaints.<\/p>\n
Problems with tap water supply and quality are old ones for
\nJakartans. The management of piped water supplies here has been
\ndelegated to two private sector firms, Thames Pam Jaya and PT Pam
\nLyonnaise Jaya, since February, 1998, after it was taken out of
\nthe hands of the reportedly corruption-riddled state-owned
\nenterprise, PAM Jaya. TPJ, which is a subsidiary of Britain's
\nThames Water International, serves customers to the east of the
\nCiliwung River, while Palyja, a subsidiary of France's ONDEO
\n(formerly Lyonnaise des Eaux), serves customers to the west of
\nthe river.<\/p>\n
Last April, tap water charges were increased by some 40
\npercent, but many still complain about poor service.<\/p>\n
Palyja's spokeswoman, Maria Sidabutar, explained that her
\ncompany had gathered together customers in four areas of the
\ncity, Central Jakarta, West Jakarta, North Jakarta and South
\nJakarta, following the water charge increases.<\/p>\n
\"We met with them (the customers) to listen to their
\ncomplaints and suggestions so that we can improve our service,\"
\nsaid Maria.<\/p>\n
Maria blamed the poor tap water quality on the low quality of
\nthe unprocessed water from the Jati Luhur reservoir in West Java,
\ncoupled with the decrepit pipe network.<\/p>\n
According to Maria, Palyja had invested Rp 644 billion as of
\nMarch last year on, among other things, replacing old pipes (490
\nkilometers out of 4,100 kilometers of old pipe), and expanding
\nthe network (780 kilometers).<\/p>\n
\"Palyja estimates that more than Rp 1.2 trillion will be
\nneeded to improve the water supply over the next five years,\"
\nsaid Maria.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/clean-water-still-a-luxury-for-many-jakartans-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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