Data on pipe networks needed: Councilor

JAKARTA (JP): A city councilor has asserted the dire need for the city to immediately set up an integrated duct system and, for that purpose, accurate data on underground pipe networks must be prepared.

Lukman F. Mokoginta, chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party faction in the City Council, told reporters at his office yesterday that this data will be used to trace underground pipe networks, before the city administration is financially ready to establish the integrated duct system.

However, Lukman acknowledged that one of the constraints being faced by city administration to build the system is a dearth of funds.

"It will be a huge project, requiring a huge amount of funds. Nevertheless the establishment of such a system is imperative," Lukman said.

The system is one of the most important things in Jakarta, as a modern city, but it will cost about 60 percent of the City budget, earmarked for the city public works office, head of the City Public Works Office, Soeharto, once said.

During a recent plenary session, city administration approved a proposal raised by city councilors to build an integrated duct system made, up of water pipes and telephone and electricity cables, in order to prevent unnecessary excavation of streets.

Excavation work done by various offices, involving the city- owned water company PD PAM Jaya, the telecommunications company PT Telkom and the state-owned electricity firm PLN, overlap each other, resulting in inefficiency of time and waste of state funds.

Lukman said that the excavation works have also inconvenienced people living near the project areas.

He made the remarks in response to a plan drawn up by city administration to include private investors in the expansion and distribution work of tap water for city residents.

He said that the participation of private firms in tap water management should be consistently based on the regional regulation for water management and tariff.

"We should not force the consumers to carry the burden of production cost by increasing the tariff of tap water," he said. "The city administration should continue to control the water tariff." (32)