Councilor opposes water hike plan

JAKARTA (JP): A city councilor urged the municipality yesterday to postpone its plan to increase water tariffs in line with a proposal by city-owned drinking water company PDAM Jaya.

The council's speaker, Edy Waluyo, said putting up the price would further burden residents during the monetary crisis.

"I suggest that the city maintain its current price, at least until the March general session of the People's Consultative Assembly."

And increasing the water tariff will only heighten the pressure on Jakartans, who have endured a prolonged dry season, Edy said.

The scarcity of water, recorded throughout most parts of the city, had made water a precious commodity, he said.

"So I think it would be wise to cancel the planned tariff hike and wait until the situation becomes better."

PDAM Jaya director Rama Boedi said earlier that the plan would ensure cross-subsidization between the rich and the poor.

Under the plan, the tariff for big consumers would be increased by 6 percent to 40 percent while small users would enjoy a two percent to five percent reduction.

"There's no other way out but to raise the tariff because it is difficult for us to keep the business going during the current economic climate," he said

"Our production costs have doubled. So with these slight tariff changes we hope we can survive."

When asked to comment yesterday, Deputy Governor for Economic and Finance Affairs Harun Al Rasyid explained that his office had not yet received PDAM Jaya's official proposal for the tariff increase.

"But we'll, of course, consider requests from both the city council and the drinking water firm," Harun said.

According to Rama of PDAM Jaya, the water tariffs have not been increased since the 1995/1996 fiscal year.

Currently, the tariffs for social service buildings -- such as foster homes and hospitals -- range between Rp 390 (0.07 US cents) and Rp 930 per cubic meter of water.

Household tariffs are between Rp 390 (for small houses) to Rp 1,845 (for luxurious houses), while commercial tariffs are between Rp 1,350 and Rp 3,100 and industrial tariffs are from Rp 1,175 to Rp 5,050. (edt)