Council vows to cancel water management deal

JAKARTA (JP): The City Council on Monday promised to fight for the immediate termination of a water management deal between city-owned tap water firm PDAM Jaya and its two foreign partners.

Speaking to some 500 protesting PDAM Jaya employees, the council's provisional leaders, Supangat from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and Abdul Aziz Matnur from the Justice Party, said the council would do everything within its power to return the management of the city's water supply to PDAM Jaya.

"We will try to return water management to PDAM Jaya by the end of this month at the latest," Supangat told the 500 employees.

The protesters, from PDAM Jaya's workers' union, have been protesting the management deal since last year.

Union secretary Zainal Abidin told the legislators the protesters would return to the City Council building if the councilors failed to honor their word.

"We'll never quit staging rallies here until our demands are met," Zainal said.

The workers arrived at the council building at about 11 a.m. carrying banners, posters, a coffin and effigies of Governor Sutiyoso and the council's former speaker, Edy Waluyo.

The workers urged the council to press Sutiyoso to cancel the water management deal with the two foreign firms: PT Thames Pam Jaya (TPJ) and PT Pam Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja), which are subsidiaries of Britain's Thames Water International and France's Lyonnaise des Eaux, respectively.

"The water agreement was full of nuances of corruption and collusion," Zainal told Supangat, Aziz and other councilors during the protest on Monday.

If the governor continues to refuse to cancel the agreement, the workers will suggest that the council ask Sutiyoso to resign, Zainal said.

Resign

Sutiyoso, a retired three-star Army general, is scheduled to end his term in 2002.

The protesters also demanded the councilors not renominate Edy Waluyo as council speaker, saying he had failed to heed their aspirations.

According to the union members, the water management agreement was signed in February 1998 by the city administration and local firms PT Garuda Dipta Semesta (GDS) owned by businessman Anthony Salim, and PT Kekar Pola Airindo (KPA) controlled by former president Soeharto's eldest son Sigit Hardjojudanto.

"Why did it suddenly change and the foreign firms managed to take over the management of the city's water," he asked.

Lyonnaise and Thames had cooperation agreements with GDS and KPA, respectively, but the local firms pulled out of the agreements after Soeharto resigned in May last year.

The city, the two foreign firms and related parties are still renegotiating the water deal.

After conveying their demands to the council members, the protesters marched to City Hall, located behind the council building.

There the workers nearly became involved in a clash with city public order officials after they attempted to forcibly enter Sutiyoso's office.

Dozens of marines arrived at the scene and were able to calm the protesters, who left City Hall after their representatives met with city officials.

Meanwhile, Palyja executive Bernard Lafronge said the council could not suggest the cancellation of the water management deal since it had not yet named a speaker or established its commissions.

"I think the workers tried to force the councilors into accepting their demands," Lafronge said.

He also denied that the ongoing renegotiation of the water deal had reached "a deadlock".

"It's still being discussed," he said.

Lafronge said the protesting workers -- in a meeting on the renegotiation of the deal two weeks ago at City Hall -- also insisted the water management agreement be revoked.

Under the deal, the foreign firms must first invest in pipe repair and installation, among other things, before being allowed to collect water fees from consumers. A certain amount of the collected money must be given to the city.

"So maybe they thought it was a deadlock, but it wasn't," he said.

The renegotiation is now being handled by the office of the coordinating minister for development supervision, he said.

He also said the protests would not disrupt Palyja's service to the public.

"They are not Palyja's workers or TPJ's workers. They are a small and nonactive (group of workers)," Bernard said.

Executives of TPJ could not be reached for comment. (jun)