Govt slammed for failure to provide clean water<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) and an urban policy
\nwatchdog blasted on Monday the city administration for its
\nfailure to provide clean water, to which the public also has a
\nbasic right.<\/p>\n
\"Access to clean water is a basic right of the public and is
\nprotected in the Constitution. The government's failure to
\nprovide it (clean water) is thus a violation against human rights
\nas well as the Constitution,\" said Indah Suksmaningsih of YLKI.<\/p>\n
Indah was referring to Article 33, Paragraph 3 of the
\nConstitution, which stipulates that the state controls, among
\nother things, water, in order to maximize the benefit it brings
\nto the public.<\/p>\n
In reality, Indah remarked, the task of supplying clean water,
\nwhich has been passed to private companies, had failed to benefit
\nthe public.<\/p>\n
\"Public complaints are rife over poor water quality and the
\npoor services provided (by the water suppliers). That clearly
\nindicates the administration's failure to fulfill the public's
\nneed for clean water,\" said Indah.<\/p>\n
\"Whether or not it is profitable, water supply is an essential
\nresponsibility of the government,\" Indah asserted.<\/p>\n
Widyawati, 50, a resident of Rawabunga, Jatinegara, East
\nJakarta, complained that the supply of clean water by the private
\nsector was not reliable.<\/p>\n
\"We cannot rely on tap water anymore during the dry season as
\nthe supply is sometimes so little it even stops altogether at
\ntimes,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Widyawati said she had installed a water pump last month in
\nanticipation of water shortages to come.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, urban policy observer of the Jakarta Chapter of the
\nIndonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) Tubagus Haryo
\nKarbyanto lambasted the city administration's discriminatory
\npolicy for providing clean water to the public.<\/p>\n
\"Many poor people in some areas of North Jakarta, for
\ninstance, have no access to clean water due to the absence of
\npipes channeling clean water to their homes,\" said Tubagus.<\/p>\n
Tubagus said the failure had imposed a further burden on
\nlower-income people as they had to purchase water themselves to
\ncater for their daily needs.<\/p>\n
Tubagus also alluded to allegations over the government's
\napparent lack of concern for the public interest by allowing many
\nhigh-rise buildings to be erected, depleting ground water and
\ncausing sea water intrusion of the water table.<\/p>\n
As the administration appeared to be reluctant to construct
\npiped water supplies to lower-income people, Tubagus said, no
\nwonder many alleged that officials of state water supply agency
\n(PAM) took advantage by selling water to those people.<\/p>\n
City-owned water supply firm PAM has two foreign partners, PT
\nPAM Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja) and PT Thames PAM Jaya (TPJ), to
\nserve the public. Palyja, owned by French firm Lyonnaise des Eaux
\nserves about 275,000 customers, mostly in the western part of the
\ncity, while TPJ, belonging to British Thames Water International,
\nprovides service mostly to the eastern part of the city.<\/p>\n
The association between PAM Jaya and its foreign partners was
\ncontroversial from the time the agreement was signed in December
\n1997.<\/p>\n
Palyja and TPJ had earlier cooperated with local firms PT
\nKekarpola, controlled by former president Soeharto's eldest son,
\nSigit Hardjojudanto, and PT Garuda Dipta Semesta, owned by Sudono
\nSalim. Following the enforced resignation of Soeharto in 1998,
\nthe local firms then withdrew from the cooperation.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-slammed-for-failure-to-provide-clean-water-1447893297",
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