Utilities remain public enemies No. 1 through 5<\/p>\n
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Monopolistic practices and a lack of concern toward public
\ncomplaints were continuing to perpetuate a culture of poor public
\nservice in the country, the Indonesian Consumers Foundation
\n(YLKI) lamented on Monday.<\/p>\n
Citing YLKI's 2003 annual report, released in conjunction with
\nWorld Consumer Rights Day on Monday, YLKI head Indah
\nSuksmaningsih said poor service still reigned in the provision of
\npublic services, despite constant rises in prices.<\/p>\n
The report found telephone, banking, electricity, water, and
\nhousing services remained the top five concerns -- as they were
\nin 2002.<\/p>\n
\"This means that the business players in such services haven't
\nimproved their performances. The unfairness increases as these
\nplayers continue raising their prices,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Over 1,600 complaints were submitted via letters and telephone
\ncalls to the foundation last year.<\/p>\n
Indah called for an end to all monopolies across the country.<\/p>\n
\"Monopolies make it impossible for consumers to find
\nalternatives,\" she said.<\/p>\n
She cited the recent move by state-owned oil and gas company
\nPT Pertamina to increase the price of liquefied petroleum gas
\n(LPG).<\/p>\n
\"Consumers can do nothing about it because there are no
\nalternative providers,\" Indah said.<\/p>\n
For electricity, which is provided by state-owned company PT
\nPLN, consumers have complained about the discrepancies between
\ntheir bills and the actual amount of electricity used, and the
\nunstable voltage provided, which can damage electronic devices.<\/p>\n
YLKI said the discrepancies were due to the company's meter
\nreaders who often estimated the likely payments within an area
\ninstead of directly visiting the houses to record the usage on
\nthe meter.<\/p>\n
A spokesman from PT PLN Muljo Adjie told The Jakarta Post the
\ncompany was following a program to improve services.<\/p>\n
This commitment, he said, was shown in stricter supervision of
\nmeter reading, which included a re-check method for meters, and
\nthe regular monitoring of faults on electricity poles and
\ngenerators.<\/p>\n
Another new effort was the launching of the hotline 123 for PT
\nPLN on Friday. \"Through this line, we aim to respond to
\ncomplaints as fast as possible,\" Muljo said.<\/p>\n
For water services, provided by PT PAM, consumers' complaints
\nwere mainly about the poor quality of water and frequent
\nunannounced disruptions to the supply.<\/p>\n
PAM's Jakarta director Didiet Haryadi said PAM had been
\nintensifying its efforts to solve these problems.<\/p>\n
\"Most of the problems lie in the distribution difficulties and
\nwater availability,\" he told the Post.<\/p>\n
Didiet said the company would begin relocating water pumps to
\ndenser city areas to accommodate more consumers, and increase the
\nquantity of water reservoirs.<\/p>\n
He said a shortage of qualified technical officers was one of
\nthe reasons behind the company's slow response to consumer
\ncomplaints.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/utilities-remain-public-enemies-no-1-through-5-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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