Cengkareng Residents Complain Again About Clean Water Shortages

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Several residents on Jalan H. Djairi, RT 05 RW 02, Rawa Buaya, Cengkareng, West Jakarta, have once again complained about the difficulties in accessing clean water in their area.

One resident, Nurliana Sihombing (61), claimed that the clean water shortage has been felt since she first subscribed to the PAM water service about 25 years ago.

“It’s not a recent thing (the clean water crisis); it’s been like this from the start. When we first installed it, it was good, clear. But after a few months, it stopped flowing altogether, and it’s always been like that until now. Sometimes the water looks like milk, sometimes like coffee, and it smells really bad, like a sewer,” Nurliana told reporters at the location on Tuesday.

The middle-aged woman, who has lived in the area for more than 30 years, is sometimes puzzled because the water flow returns to normal and clean every midnight.

“It’s strange how the water is so good at night. From around 1:00 AM until 4:30 AM, it’s always good, every day. But sometimes by dawn, it already smells, it smells rotten,” she complained.

This situation forces her to wake up in the middle of the night to get a supply of clean water for bathing and cooking needs. Her house is filled with empty buckets ready to be filled with stored water in the middle of the night for the whole day’s needs.

“Yes, we wake up at two or three in the morning to fill the water. So we already have containers like several buckets. We have no choice; otherwise, we won’t have clean water,” she said.

If the clean water stock runs low during the day, she has to delay bathing or only bathe once a day. Yet, she feels she has never been late in paying her monthly bill of Rp50,000.

Now, she is resigned and hopes for a comprehensive infrastructure improvement, not just temporary repairs that never truly solve the main problem.

“Hopefully, the PAM system is fixed properly. It’s odd how the flow is only at certain times, even though we pay for it; that’s what puzzles us,” Nurliana said.

Meanwhile, the head of RT 05/RW 02 Rawa Buaya, Eka, said that the PAM water problem has indeed been ongoing for decades in the area.

In fact, some residents have decided to drill wells again to switch to using groundwater, even though its quality is not as good as PAM water when it’s normal.

He even admitted to once having to discard water that accidentally got mixed with dirty water while storing it. “When the PAM water comes on, you get one or two buckets of good water. But after storing it again, suddenly it’s mixed with dirty water, so everything smells,” he said.

“That midnight, I open the tap to fill the tank, and when I open it, oh God, it’s black, smells like a sewer. And it was almost full, up to my neck; how could I drain it? And the water was already metered,” he added.

After experiencing that incident, Eka also disconnected the PAM water connection at his house and spent more to switch to groundwater.

He explained that residents have actually protested and reported this many times to the officers who check the meters. Even when officers come, the water is often black and smelly.

“When asked for the reason, they say, ‘Maybe there’s a leak when repairing the road or something.’ But until now, it’s not really fixed. They often check and dig up the front there, but it’s still (dirty),” he revealed.

Even sometimes, when the water happens to flow clear when officers arrive, the next day the water turns pitch black and smells like a sewer again.