Data on pipe networks needed: Councilor

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)