Water company slammed for plan to hike charges<\/p>\n
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The public urged city-owned tap water company PAM Jaya on
\nSaturday to improve its services and water quality instead of
\nraising water rates.<\/p>\n
\"I just don't understand why the company never considers
\nimproving its services. Sometimes the quality of its water is
\nextremely poor. Sometimes its water is muddy and smells bad, and
\noften it doesn't even flow,\" said Maria Widianingrum, a resident
\nof Cipinang in East Jakarta, who has been a customer of the
\ncompany for three years.<\/p>\n
Maria, an accountant, said she paid a water bill of Rp 100,000
\nevery month even though she could not use the water for cooking
\nor drinking.<\/p>\n
She said the city administration should not approve the water
\ncompany's plan to increase water rates before the company
\nimproved its services and the quality of its water.<\/p>\n
\"I wouldn't be surprised, though, if the city administration
\napproves the increase. It always does the same thing with bus
\nfares, parking charges, you name it,\" she said.<\/p>\n
During a meeting with the City Council on Thursday, PAM Jaya
\nand its foreign partners, Thames Pam Jaya (TPJ) and Pam Lyonaisse
\nJaya (Palyja), presented their proposal to increase water rates
\nby 35 percent. Currently it charges between Rp 200,000 and Rp
\n3,000 per cubic meter.<\/p>\n
Governor Sutiyoso has supported the planned increase, saying
\nthe administration would apply a cross-subsidy policy.<\/p>\n
\"Water rates for the average household will be slightly
\nincreased, but for wealthy customers, the charges could be
\nsharply increased,\" Sutiyoso said.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) slammed the
\nadministration for indicating that it would approve the water
\ncompany's proposal to increase water rates.<\/p>\n
\"It's a bad gift from Sutiyoso, who was newly reelected as
\ncity governor. Instead of asking the company to improve its
\nservices and product quality, he has agreed to the increase,\"
\nYLKI's legal and consumer complaint head Tulus Abadi said on
\nSaturday.<\/p>\n
Tulus said the company should first improve its services
\nbefore proposing an increase.<\/p>\n
He said that most of the complaints that the foundation
\nreceived were about water rates, while others complained about
\nelectricity rates and telephone charges.<\/p>\n
Councillor Syamsidar Siregar supported Tulus' view, saying the
\ncouncil would not approve the proposal to increase water rates
\nbefore the company improves its services.<\/p>\n
\"We have yet to receive the (official) proposal to increase
\nwater rates, and we will reject such a proposal,\" said Syamsidar,
\nwho is a member of the council's special team assigned to discuss
\nproblems related to the water firm.<\/p>\n
In Thursday's meeting, the company claimed the increase was
\nneeded to cover increased operational costs and inflation.<\/p>\n
PAM Jaya signed a cooperation agreement with TPJ and Palyja in
\n1997 and increased its water rates by 35 percent in October last
\nyear.<\/p>\n
PAM Jaya still owes the World Bank Rp 1.7 trillion, and has
\nposted Rp 700 billion in losses since 1997.<\/p>\n
TPJ, which is a subsidiary of Britain's Thames Water
\nInternational, supplies customers in the eastern part of Jakarta
\nwhile Palyja, which is a subsidiary of France's ONDEO (formerly
\nLyonaisse des Eaux), serves customers in the western part of
\nJakarta. Both companies serve about 650,000 customers in Jakarta.<\/p>",
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