Council to establish team to study PDAM water deal

Council to establish team to study PDAM water deal

JAKARTA (JP): The City Council agreed on Wednesday to
establish a new team to conduct an in-depth study into the water
deal between city-owned water firm PDAM Jaya and its two foreign
partners.

Council speaker Edy Waluyo said the team, replacing the
previous one, would consist of newly elected councilors from
Commission A for administrative affairs, Commission C for city
revenue and Commission D for development affairs, he said.

He gave no details on any figures or the deadline for the
team. Edy assured the 15 representatives of the PDAM Jaya workers
union, whose members have repeatedly complained about the water
deal, that the new team would be able to solve the prolonged
conflict among the parties fairly and quickly.

"We promised that the problem would be solved," Edy told the
union's representatives, who visited the councilors together with
some 150 others to demand a cancellation of the deal with the
foreign partners.

Edy said the outcome of the team's work could be in the form
of a cancellation of the water management agreement or a
renegotiation of it.

"It will totally depend on the results of the team's study,"
he said.

Edy explained that the previous team who worked on a similar
mission, led by former councilors Ali Wongso Sinaga and Wien
Ritola, was not completed as they had to leave their posts in
August.

After working for about a year, the team yielded no
significant results, he said.

During the meeting, union chairman Amir Tanjung also demanded
the councilors to put some of their colleagues on the list of
team members.

The request, however, was rejected by the councilors.

Councilor Syamsuardi Botan of Commission A said the team
should only consist of councilors to make it objective.

"We don't want to be used by workers," Syamsuardi said.

The visiting workers seemed dissatisfied with the result but
left peacefully later.

Amir said the workers visited the council since its
provisional leader, Supangat, recently promised to cancel the
water deal in September.

"We're here again to remind the councilors of their promise.
Pak Edy also once promised that the matter would be solved in
July but until now there has been no solution," Amir said.

The workers frequently staged demonstrations and visited the
council to demand the cancellation of the water deal, which they
claimed was full of indications of corruption and collusion.

Last month, the workers "occupied" a logistics office of PDAM
Jaya in Pejompongan, Central Jakarta. The action, however, was
strongly criticized by many, including Governor Sutiyoso and
several city councilors.

Amir said on Wednesday that the action was merely aimed at
attracting public attention to the dispute, instead of committing
"a crime" as some accused.

The water management agreement, signed in February with PT
Thames Pam Jaya (TPJ) and Pam Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja), has been
long protested by the workers, who claim to have suffered a
significant drop in monthly income.

Sutiyoso repeatedly said he would not cancel the water deal in
order to avoid a lawsuit from the foreign parties. (jun)