TPJ water company cuts off supply to Klender apartment<\/p>\n
Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Some 6,000 residents in Klender apartments in East Jakarta are
\nupset as a result of having their normal water supply cut off by
\nwater company PT Thames PAM Jaya (TPJ) on Friday for being nearly
\nthree years and US$50,000 behind on their water bills.<\/p>\n
The problem centers around the tenants' agent, called Klender
\nApartment Tenants' Association (PPRSK), which has refused to pay
\nwater charges since August 2000, and is now in arrears to the
\ntune of Rp 411 million (approximately US$49,939).<\/p>\n
Yeni, 42, an apartment resident, said that she always paid her
\nwater bills to the agent on time, and felt that the disruption
\nwas unfair.<\/p>\n
\"It was not our (tenants) fault, we always settle the bills on
\ntime, why should the punishment be meted out to us?\" she asked.<\/p>\n
Lani, 29, a mother of a two-month-old baby, was even more
\nfrustrated as she lives on the fourth floor and cannot easily
\nbring water up to her apartment.<\/p>\n
\"TPJ is providing water in a tanker truck, but how am I
\nsupposed to bring the water up to my apartment?\" she wondered.<\/p>\n
After TPJ officials, accompanied by the police, cut the water
\nconnection at around 11 a.m., the company's tanker truck was seen
\nstanding by to provide water to the tenants.<\/p>\n
Rhamses Simanjuntak, spokesman for TPJ, said that the company
\nwill truck water in at the company's normal rates after the
\ndisconnection, taking into account that the tenants had paid the
\nagents for their water.<\/p>\n
He said that the trucks would fill up the tenants' water
\nbasins, from where water will be pumped to the apartments,
\ntherefore residents do not need to stand in line and buy water
\npersonally.<\/p>\n
The British-based company realizes that passing the burden off
\nto the residents would be unfair, because the agent should be
\nheld responsible, he said.<\/p>\n
He said that TPJ hoped the disconnection would move the
\nresidents to putting pressure on their agent to take the
\nresponsibility and settle its debt.<\/p>\n
The supply will be restored if an agreement can be reached
\nbetween TPJ and a newly established agent or if the City Council
\norders the restoration the water supply, he said.<\/p>\n
Wempy, the tenant coordinator, said that the residents had
\nalready reported the agent to the police, and 10 people were
\ninterrogated regarding the case, but no one had been arrested
\nyet.<\/p>\n
PPRSK's chairman is also a senior member of a large, powerful
\npolitical party, so we have very little faith that the police
\nwill actually try to solve the case, he alleged.<\/p>\n
The residents also questioned why TPJ disconnected the supply
\nafter bills were outstanding for 28 months, while usually,
\narrears exceeding three months would warrant such action.<\/p>\n
Rhamses said that in early 2001 TPJ had disconnected the water
\nsupply. However, someone in the apartment managed to turn it back
\non by breaking a seal. Since then, in respect of humanitarian
\nconsiderations, the company tried different approaches to
\nsettling the debt without cutting the water off.<\/p>",
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