25% hike in tap water tariffs under attack

JAKARTA (JP): An executive of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation has criticized city-owned water company PDAM's decision to raise tap water prices by an average of 25 percent from this month.

Zumrotin KS said yesterday the rise was not fair and that the company had several other options it could have employed to rid itself of internal problems.

She said the price increase victimized the public, making customers pay more to cover the firm's losses.

"The price rise is not right. I think that such a method is a typical solution made by ailing or mismanaged state-run companies to rid themselves of their problems without really solving them," Zumrotin told The Jakarta Post.

She said PDAM had not adequately addressed its real problems, but had instead tried to employ shortcut measures.

"PDAM has always said that it suffers financial losses because of huge leakage problems with its pipes. Why don't they fix that problem first rather than charging customers higher prices?" she asked.

PDAM announced Friday its decision to apply new tariffs from April 1 despite the absence of official approval letters from Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso.

The increase affects luxury apartment owners and affluent households the most, with tariff increases of up to 65.71 percent for customers in those categories.

An employee at the Ascot apartment complex on Jl. Kebon Kacang in Central Jakarta complained that PDAM had established the new tariffs without any official notice beforehand. He also argued that the legality of the new tariffs was questionable.

"I read in the newspaper that the new tariffs have not actually been approved or signed by the governor. If that's true, then how could PDAM say that the new tariffs are effective as of April 1?" said the employee, who asked for anonymity.

He said he was personally against the tariff adjustment because it meant more trouble for the apartment's management.

He said apartments and hotels were among the biggest consumers of water, with the Ascot consuming a total of 10,720 cubic meters last month.

"That's because we can't prohibit our tenants from using the water whenever they like. We certainly can't, for example, stop our tap water during particular hours just because we want to cut our expenses and save some money," he said.

A employee at the Griya Prapanca apartment complex in Kemang, South Jakarta, also said that the rise was another burden to his building's management.

The employee, who asked for anonymity, said the management had started measures to save on electricity, telephone and water costs.

"We're trying to eliminate the unnecessary use of electricity, telephones and tap water because the three have always topped our monthly expenses," he said.

"You can imagine what kind of trouble we're facing now with all the tariffs being increased, while on the other hand, our income is falling as our occupancy rate plunges," he said without elaborating.

Kie Kin, an affluent housewife in Sunter, North Jakarta, said she had started to remind her husband, three children, two nieces and three servants to conserve water.

The family pays Rp 125,000 in tap water bills monthly.

She said that although the price increase did not significantly affect her family budget, she felt that the family should reduce its water consumption.

"I don't want to sound snobbish here, but the main reason why I urged my family to conserve water was not only to cut our expenses but more to teach them to appreciate natural resources," Kie said. (cst)