The city thirsts among lush golf courses<\/p>\n
By Andreas Harsono and Hidayat Jati<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): While the dragging drought continues to deplete
\nJakarta's water supply, this natural unpleasantness has exposed
\nthe often neglected facts of this third-world metropolis: the
\npoor are deprived and the rich live in excess.<\/p>\n
This is evident in the case of Siti Nurrofiqoh, a 21-year-old
\nlaborer at a garment factory who lives in Kemandoran, South
\nJakarta, who must devote almost 10 percent of her Rp 3,800
\n(US$1.7) daily income just to get a bath in a very humble public
\nbathhouse.<\/p>\n
On top of that, Nurrofiqoh has to queue up in a crowded,
\nstinking small alley for half-an-hour before paying for what has
\nbecome a luxury for her.<\/p>\n
\"We cannot take our regular baths nor wash our clothes since
\nour artesian well dried up two months ago,\" she sighed.<\/p>\n
The drought also means extra spending for thousands of low-
\nincome people living in areas outside the City Water Company (PAM
\nJaya) service areas, such as some subdistricts in South and East
\nJakarta as well as Depok.<\/p>\n
Thousands of others, to some extent, share similar
\nexperiences, such as waiting for the water pressure of their
\npiped water to improve, or their deep wells to fill, waiting
\nuntil late at night or sometimes until early morning.<\/p>\n
Their predicament came not long after government officials
\nestimated that the 1994 drought will prove to be one of the most
\nserious over the last decade.<\/p>\n
Director General of Irrigation Soeparmono told The Jakarta
\nPost recently that access to potable water is a major problem for
\nlow income residents who live in areas where piped water is not
\navailable.<\/p>\n
The city administration, Soeparmono said, stepped up its
\nefforts of installing water pipes throughout the capital city in
\na bid to subdue regular droughts, saying that only around 30
\npercent of Jakarta's estimated 8.5 million population had piped
\nwater.<\/p>\n
\"The rest use groundwater to meet their daily needs,\" said
\nDeputy Governor for Economic and Development Tb. M. Rais,
\nreferring to high-rise buildings, heavy industries and golf-
\ncourses, which are among the unquenchable consumers of Jakarta's
\nlimited groundwater, to ordinary households which usually utilize
\ntheir iron hand pumps or electric pumps to obtain groundwater for
\ntheir daily needs.<\/p>\n
Injustice<\/p>\n
Various artesian well users, however, exploit the natural
\nsources in extremely unrivaled approaches.<\/p>\n
Kadi, a resident of Depok, a suburb south of Jakarta, said he
\nand other residents living in a housing complex for middle and
\nlow-income earners are also experiencing the effects of the
\ndragging drought.<\/p>\n
\"I bathe and wash my clothes at my neighbor's house,\" Kadi
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
But the drought means luck for Siswanto, a driver who is now
\nworking as a part-time plumber.<\/p>\n
\"My husband has received at least five orders a month over the
\nlast three months from neighbors who need to deepen their wells,\"
\nSiswanto's wife said.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, Jakarta's lush golf-courses, a favorite
\nsport for the city's over privileged residents, need some 1,000
\ncubic meters of groundwater to be sprayed every day to keep each
\none of their mostly 18-hole courses fresh, clean and green.<\/p>\n
They usually use expensive hydroelectric equipment, costing
\nmillions of rupiah, which can suck up excessive amounts of water
\nin a very short period.<\/p>\n
\"That amount of water could supply the daily need of 1,000
\nfamilies,\" said Saleh Abdullah, the vice-coordinator of the NGO
\nNetwork for Forest Conservation in Indonesia (Skephi), which
\nconducted the research on golf-courses.<\/p>\n
Saleh warned that exorbitant exploitation of groundwater could
\nlead to serious environmental destruction such as seawater
\nseepage and the sinking of the earth's surface.<\/p>\n
Soeparmono also warned that Jakarta will encounter serious
\nwater problems by the year 2018 if no concrete measures are taken
\nto check the uncontrolled use of groundwater.<\/p>\n
Sad to say, for those like Nurrofiqoh, Kadi and others who do
\nnot play golf there may be major hardships ahead.<\/p>",
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