Jakartans buy mineral water for bathing

Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

"People might be able to survive the trauma of last week's bomb impact but force them to live without water, and it is unlikely they would survive," said Ella, 27, a resident of Karet Belakang, South Jakarta.

In the last 10 days, customers of PAM Lyonnasie Jaya (Palyja) in areas such as Karet Belakang, Tebet and Kebon Kacang have been suffering from water shortages since not a drop of water has come out of their faucets.

Ella contacted a customer service officer who said that the prolonged dry season caused the decreasing water debit and there was nothing they could do but wait for rain.

The officer admitted that it could mean months before a favorable rain would fall. In the mean time, residents would have to find their own water.

Another resident of the area, Igor O'Neill, 30, has been purchasing five-gallon bottles of potable water for bathing, washing and flushing the toilet.

"It was silly. It was like bathing with milk," said the Australian, who has to pay Rp 2,500 (29 U.S. cents) per five gallons, which is only enough to bath twice.

He questioned Palyja's capability as a private company in managing such an essential service, saying that the company should come up with a solution such as a rotating system so each area could get water, although not every day, during the drought.

Maria Sidabutar, spokesperson for Palyja, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that there was no emergency as yet and a rotating system would not be needed.

An emergency status would be applied if the water debit reached an average of 3,000 liters per second, she said.

Maria claimed that currently Palyja could maintain an average of 4,000 liter per second but admitted that last week it once reached a level of 2,600 liters per second.

She said that these days Palyja was coordinating with Perum Jasa Tirta II, which maintained the water flow from Jatiluhur dam in Purwakarta, West Java, to ensure an adequate amount of water could flow through and reach all areas in the city.

The critical areas affected by the water shortage include Muara Angke, Muara Karang, Penjaringan, Pluit, Cengkareng, Pegadungan, Kali Deres, Mangga Dua, Mangga Besar, Karet, Tebet, Manggarai and Tanah Abang.