City cracks down on illegal groundwater use

City cracks down on illegal groundwater use

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta administration has sealed off
artesian wells sunk illegally at 246 houses in its latest effort
to control the use of ground water.

In an operation from January to July, the administration
closed 181 household wells in Pulo Gadung, East Jakarta and
another 65 wells in Kapuk, North Jakarta.

"The owners changed the wells into artesian wells, with some
being more than 40 meters deep," the head of City Mining Agency,
Arifin Akbar, said.

Households which drill wells deeper than 40 meters must first
obtain permission from the administration.

The administration and the City Council are currently
deliberating a proposal to expand water levies to include
domestic as well as industrial users.

Arifin, who met with councilors to discuss the plan yesterday,
said uncontrolled exploitation of ground water would cause
subsidence, and also lead to salt water intrusion.

He disclosed that levies were planned for households which use
more than 50 cubic meters of water a month.

"The plan is aimed at controlling the use of ground water for
households in Jakarta, especially to reduce the use of artesian
wells," the head of Commission D for public works, Ali Wongso,
Sinaga said yesterday.

Separately, Governor Surjadi Soedirdja said the planned water
tax was aimed at preserving the city's ground water resources.

"Don't take this as a burden, but think for the future
generations. We don't want our children to suffer because of what
we do today," he said after installing new officials in his
office.

Arifin said that pending the outcome of the deliberations, the
administration would intensify supervision of factories' and
hotels' water use.

At present, 3,123 artesian wells have been registered with the
administration. The actual number was much higher, Arifin said.

Ali said many factories in the outskirts of Jakarta avoided
paying water taxes by taking water from adjacent townships such
as Bogor, Tangerang or Bekasi.

Every year, Jakarta taps some 33 million cubic meters of
ground water, still within the 48 million cubic meters limit
imposed by the administration, Ali said.

"Although it is not over the limit, the ground water must be
preserved and people have to conserve it," he said.

Ali urged residents to switch from ground water to water
supplied by PDAM Jaya, the city-owned drinking water company.

PDAM currently supplies water to up to 36 percent of Jakarta's
population of more than nine million people. (07)