Community overcomes problems by working together

Community overcomes problems by working together

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With a tap water crisis looming, millions of residents in the
crowded and chaotic capital have reason for concern.

But not Ramelan, 66, and his wife, Saminem, 57, and 23 other
families who live on the tiny and crowded Gg. Setia in Kebayoran
Lama, South Jakarta.

Blessed with adequate groundwater but lacking space, the
community of 107 people has been managing its precious water
supply carefully for almost 40 years.

"Since the 1960s, we have used public wells, six bathrooms and
six toilets. Every house here only has a tiny area for washing
dishes and laundry. But for other things, we use the communal
facilities," Ramelan, who hails from Yogyakarta, told The Jakarta
Post.

Each family on Gg. Setia rents their modest wooden house from
a landlord, whose house is located on the corner of the tiny
street.

"When we first came here in the 1960s, the landlord arranged
the communal sanitation facilities," Saminem, a homemaker, said.

Years later, although the economy had improved and they could
afford privacy and their own facilities, the families decided to
maintain the communal facilities.

Since 1997, the community, assisted by donated building
materials from the municipality, has improved the facilities.

In 2002, when a prolonged dry season lowered the groundwater
level, the community decided to dig an artesian well.

"Thank God, the quality of the groundwater here is good,"
Ramelan said, adding that in 2001 tests found the quality of
their water met government standards.

And all of the families in the area want to keep it that way.

"Once, one of our neighbors built his own toilet at the back
of his house. After discussing it with others, we asked him to
close the toilet. Fortunately, he was quite understanding,"
Ramelan said.

"The problem is, if each house had its own toilet, septic tank
and well, it would get too crowded and all of the septic tanks
would pollute the groundwater," he said.

With the current arrangement, the distance between the
communal wells and the septic tank is about 20 meters, above the
minimum distance of 15 meters required by local sanitation
standards.

Ramelan said some people from the water company once visited
the neighborhood to do some measuring, but they never came back.

According to the latest reports, as of December 2004, tap
water services provided by PAM Jaya, in a joint venture with PT
PAM Lyonnaise Jaya of France and PT Thames PAM Jaya of Britain,
covered just slightly more than three million people in the
capital, out of a total population of 8.7 million.

"I don't know about the rest of the community. But for myself,
I'm pleased with the current arrangements, even though we don't
have a private toilet and bathroom. The distance from our house
to the facilities is not very far," Ramelan, a retired police
officer, said.

Ramelan said he heard tap water customers often complain
about the poor service.

"My brother-in-law is a PAM customer. He tells me the tap
water sometimes stops all day, particularly in the dry season.
Sometimes it only trickles at night," Ramelan said.

"We are happy with this. We only pay Rp 10,000 (US$1) a month,
which also covers the cost of cleaning equipment like brushes and
disinfectants." Saminem said. "I think a family uses an average
of 5,000 m3 water a day if they do laundry."

Compared to tap water, the community pays very little for
water. The cheapest rate for tap water is currently Rp 900 per 1
m3, and the highest is Rp 12,150. Tap water rates are likely to
be raised 25 percent next year.

Every month, Ramelan added, 15 people were assigned to clean
the public toilets.

"We were named the best neighborhood because of our good
sanitation and community health," Ramelan said with pride.

"But on top of that, we actually won because of our sense of
community," Saminem added, also proudly.

Saminem, who rents two small houses for Rp 50,000 each per
month, pointed at a wall built from wooden planks.

"We can dismantle the walls all the way from the left end of
the row to the right," she said.

She said the arrangement was useful for the community when
they threw parties for weddings, circumcision ceremonies or any
other communal gathering.

Almost all of the 24 families, or 107 people, who live on Gg.
Setia originally came from Central Java or Yogyakarta, like
Saminem and Ramelan.

Judging from their modest yet adequate belongings, the people
of Gg. Setia are not among Jakarta's poor. But obviously,
finance-wise, their lives are not as easy as those of their rich
neighbors just one kilometer away in the posh Permata Hijau.

But they keep on smiling. Clearly, working together the people
of Jakarta can thrive.

Caption:
JP/Evi Mariani
Ramelan points to a sign that reads, "Please, take off your
shoes", in front of the communal toilets.