Clean water -- clean govt?

If anything could be said to illustrate the dismal state of Jakarta's public services, the shortage of potable water in this city that borders the sea and is traversed by rivers is as good an example as any.

To cite a few statistics: Only about 600,000 people, or less than five percent of the city's population of more than 10 million, have access to water supplied by city-owned water company PAM Jaya, which is the distributor of clean water in Jakarta. The rest must resort to drilling either shallow or deep wells or tapping water from the city's badly contaminated rivers. About 70 percent of those rely on groundwater from wells, while the remainder depend on river water.

This is not to mention the quality of the water, even the purportedly clean water, produced by a number of water companies and supplied to clients by PAM Jaya. Bambang Budi, a resident who is also a PAM Jaya client and lives in Cilandak, South Jakarta, complained, in an interview published in this newspaper recently, "I buy dirty water at expensive rates." Another resident, Yose, who lives in Kayu Jati in East Jakarta complained that his water was muddy, especially after heavy rain. Similar complaints can be easily heard by anyone who cares to listen to residents' grievances about Jakarta's public services.

Mochamad Ali, a hydrology expert employed at the Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure, has warned the public to be careful when consuming tap water supplied by PAM Jaya, even when it looks clean. This is because the filtering system that the company employs fails to screen micro-pollutants and disease- causing bacteria that are carried by the severely contaminated river water, which companies use as their raw water. Furthermore, the practice of adding chlorine to treat water could lead to the formation of new compounds that are believed to be carcinogenic.

A study carried out by the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) about a decade ago found that Jakarta's tap water contained an average of 0.0024 ppm of mercury, which is more than twice as high as the 0.001 limit set by the Ministry of Health. A University of Indonesia study conducted last year suggested that detergents were among the pollutants that contaminate well water and raw water used by tap water firms, including PAM Jaya.

Nor, generally speaking, does the groundwater in Jakarta seem to be that much better. Overpopulation and the absence of a sanitation system are the reasons why it is virtually impossible in Jakarta to drill a well far enough removed from sources of pollution, such as contaminated rivers or waste disposal tanks, to be safe. In addition, the uncontrolled digging of deep wells is causing the increased intrusion of salt water from Jakarta's coastal areas. What this has all led to is that wells are being dug deeper and deeper and that in the worst-affected areas the land is in danger of subsiding.

As water is one of the most fundamental needs of mankind, the question that demands an urgent answer is, what can be done to stop this alarming trend? Better enforcement of existing rules and regulations is obviously part of the solution. But improbable though it may seem to some, another is the eradication of corruption. The issuance of drilling permits and use of groundwater in Jakarta are regulated by Gubernatorial Decree No.744/1995. However, so far, few, if any, sanctions appear to have been imposed on either individuals or companies that have broken the law.

Corruption is also believed to be the factor that has encouraged unscrupulous individuals to tap the PAM Jaya network for water, to be resold to households not as yet connected to the PAM Jaya network. Water, it must be remembered, is a basic commodity without which life is impossible. For this reason, its availability to all is guaranteed by the Constitution. It seems to be high time that the Jakarta city administration take a good look at the water situation in this city. With all the problems Jakarta is already facing, the city hardly needs another source of frustration and dissatisfaction that could eventually lead to unrest.