Dikes neglected due to low funds: Jasa Tirta II
JAKARTA (JP): Amid the agony of hundreds of thousands people suffering from water shortages following the collapse of a dike here, the state water company admitted on Saturday that not all dikes and water networks in the city are properly maintained due to a lack of funds.
Jasa Tirta II technical director Sri Hernowo said that the company needed Rp 136 billion to fund maintenance costs last year, but only between 30 percent and 40 percent of that amount was available.
He said that the company sells water at Rp 50 per cubic meter to the city-owned water company PT PAM Jaya, while PT PAM Jaya charges household customers Rp 2,700/cubic meter, hotels and offices Rp 5,700/cubic meter, and the Tanjung Priok harbor Rp 7,500/cubic meter.
The state water company also sells water to industry at a rate of Rp 23/cubic meter.
"Ideally, the water should be sold to PAM Jaya and industry at Rp 200 per cubic meter," he was quoted by Antara as saying.
He also said that the city administration should hand over part of the land and building ownership tax obtained from farmers to the state water company. "But this does not happen either," he said.
According to Hernowo, the Jatiluhur dam in West Java has the capacity to produce 6 billion cubic meters per day, but only 500 million cubic meters are sold to PAM Jaya and industry, while the rest is used for irrigation.
Hernowo was accompanying Minister for Resettlement and Infrastructure Erna Witoelar during a visit to the West Tarum dike in Kali Malang, East Jakarta, part of which collapsed last Monday.
"I hope that the repairs can be finished soon so that the water requirements of Jakarta residents who depend on this dike can be fulfilled," Erna said.
Hundreds of thousands of residents in East, North and part of Central Jakarta are suffering water shortages as the city's two tap water companies under PT PAM Jaya, PT Thames Pam Jaya and PT Pam Lyonnaise Jaya, have had to interrupt regular water supplies.
Erna said that a lack of funds should not be an excuse for the delay in repairing the collapsed dike.
She also said that Jasa Tirta II should optimize its funds by giving priority to the vital dikes that provide water supplies to households and industry.
The minister criticized the current system, under which funds are allocated equally for all dikes and water networks.
Hernowo said there are 17 critical dikes and 13 water pipelines along a 70 kilometer stretch between Curug, West Java, and Cawang, East Jakarta, which are the primary source of household and industry water supplies in Jakarta.
It is estimated that repairs to the West Tarum dike will take two weeks.
While many suffer due to the lack of tap water supplies, some people profit.
Stores providing jet pumps are packed with buyers who have turned to artesian wells as an alternative water source.
A shop attendant in Kenari market, Central Jakarta, said that business had been strong since Thursday.
"We usually serve only a few buyers in one day, but now they keep on coming from the time we open until we close in the evening," he said.
One trader told Antara that most of the buyers said they used to obtain water from artesian wells before the tap water company began serving their area. As they had not used their jet pumps for a long time, they did not work properly and many had to be replaced.
The price of jet pumps vary between Rp 900,000 and Rp 3 million, depending on their quality.
Koko, who lives on Jl. Tegal Ambon in Duren Sawit, East Jakarta, decided to buy a jet pump because he was desperate for clean water.
"I am already embarrassed because I always request (water) from my neighbor (who has an artesian well)," he said.
Many residents said they have asked the water company to deploy its water trucks to their neighborhood, but they have yet to arrive.
Mrs. Sidauruk, who lives in the Bidara Cina area in North Jakarta, will move to her son's house in Bogor, south of Jakarta.
"I can no longer ask for water from my neighbor who has a jet pump in her house, because it is already broken after being used non-stop 24 hours a day to supply water to people living in five community units in my neighborhood," she said.
She regretted that the water trucks promised by PT Thames Pam Jaya had never arrived and said that there are no water vendors in her area.
Meanwhile, a man who contacted The Jakarta Post on Saturday morning said that residents in the Danau Sunter housing complex in North Jakarta had to pay prices ranging between Rp 100,000 and Rp 200,000 (17.4 U.S. cents) per cubic meter of water.
"This has been going on for the last two days," he said. (bby)