'Gozney wants water rates hiked'

British Ambassador to Indonesia Richard Gozney asked Vice President Hamzah Haz on Monday to lobby the Jakarta administration, requesting a hike in the price of tap water in the wake of financial losses suffered by water operators.

"Ambassador Gozney said that a 20 percent increase in the price of tap water will be enough to maintain water operators' services in the city," the vice president was quoted by Antara as saying.

Hamzah made the statement after a meeting with the ambassador here.

During the meeting, Gozney said that water operator PT Thames Pam Jaya (TPJ), a subsidiary of Britain's Thames Water International, had suffered US$58 million in financial losses during the last three years.

The vice president said that if the company kept suffering from financial losses, it would likely pull out of the country.

In response to the ambassador's request, Hamzah said he would summon Governor Sutiyoso to discuss a possible price increase.

Earlier in March, TPJ and PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya, a subsidiary of France's ONDEO (formerly Lyonnaisse des Eux), threatened to pull out of their agreement with the City Administration and the city water company Pam Jaya if their price increase proposal was rejected by the City Council. The administration bowed to the proposal and increased the price by 40 percent.

The British Embassy was not available for comment. -- JP