2,000 customers stop tap water service

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

A total of 2,066 customers in Banjar Wijaya housing complex, Cipondoh district, Tangerang regency, have canceled their tap water service from regental water operator PDAM Tirta Kerta Raharja (TKR). Instead, they have signed on with Tangerang municipal water company PDAM Tirta Dharma.

"We have been very disappointed by TKR's service, as it never follows up on our complaints regarding its poor service and bad quality of water," HF Mendrofa, a customer and Tangerang municipal councillor, said on Monday.

He said residents of the housing complex had consumed dirty and smelly water supplied by PDAM TKR for years and decided to take action when the water operator imposed a 300 percent price increase early this year.

"The recent hike triggered our decision to stop using PDAM TKR and switch to PDAM Tirta Dharma."

The group held a meeting after PDAM TKR announced the hike and agreed to stop using the company's services.

They also sent a letter to Tangerang Mayor Wahidin Halim to help them in signing on as new customers with PDAM Tirta Dharma, to which the mayor responded by writing to the regent for his approval.

"The regent approved, and the transfer to Tirta Dharma is being processed," Mendrofa said.

However, PDAM TKR spokesman Anda Suhanda denied that poor service and bad water quality were the main reasons behind the switch.

"The regental administration handed over the responsibility of supplying tap water to the housing complex to the municipal water operator, as requested by the mayor," he said.

Suhanda said the regental administration approved the request so that it could prioritize 60,000 other residents in the regency who had yet to receive tap water services.

PDAM TKR assets, including its pipelines in Cipondoh, will be handed over to the municipal administration and in return, the regental water operator will be freed from its Rp 150 million (US$17,857) annual contribution to the municipality.

Suhanda emphasized that PDAM TKR would not strike a compromise with residents' demand to review the water price hike.

"The current price of Rp 1,850 per cubic meter is the cheapest in the country. Besides, it's the first hike since 1992," he said.