North Jakarta conversion has caused salinization
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The conversion of wetland in the northern coastal areas of Jakarta for luxury housing estates has contributed to salt contaminating groundwater.
The saltwater forces people to buy water for their daily needs, particularly for cooking food and drinking water, as they do not get access to clean water networks.
The poor suffer the most.
Groundwater in the north has been contaminated by seawater since the early 1980s with other part of the city also affected.
Minister of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure Soenarno said the salinization of groundwater had reached the National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta.
Chairman of Jakarta's chapter of the Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi), Ahmad Safrudin, said there were three main factors causing seawater intrusion: conversion of wetlands in northern coastal areas, overuse of groundwater, and inadequate green areas.
"Combination of the three factors have sped up the salinization process of groundwater in Jakarta," he said.
A great part of the wetlands in the northern coastal areas that have turned into housing complexes include the areas of Kapuk, Kelapa Gading and Sunter. An industrial estate has also been developed in the former wetland in Sunter.
Due to the pollution of groundwater, Kasno and many other low- income people who live in slums in Jembatan Besi use bought water for drinking and cooking, and the salty groundwater for other purposes.
Kasno, 40, said he spends Rp 1,600 per day on clean water for his six-member family.
"So, we should spend some Rp 48,000 per month for clean water. It is a significant amount for a low-income family like us," Kasno, a meatball trader, said as he pushed his cart around the neighborhood.
Kusno has lived in the area since 1999 after he bought a 36 square-meter house for Rp 3 million. He has had no access to clean water as his land is said to be "in dispute". He said there were about 2,000 people in the subdistrict who could not access clean water from the city water company and had to buy it from traders.
One of the traders, Komariah, 50, admitted that she could make significant profits by selling clean water to her neighbors.
"I just pay Rp 350,000 to the city water company PD PAM Jaya. I can collect some Rp 1,000,000 per month from selling the clean water to my neighbors," she said.
Sumarni, 45, from Kalideres subdistrict, West Jakarta, said residents in her subdistrict had not been able to use the groundwater since the 1980s. Fortunately the clean water network reached the areas three months ago.
"Not all families here, however, become customers of the clean water company. And for their daily necessities they need to buy from water vendors," said Sumarni.
She said that she used to spend Rp 15,000 a month on clean water. A container of 20 liters of water sold for Rp 250, she added.
The salty groundwater not only imposed financial burdens on the people, but also affected their health.
Fahmi Idris, secretary general of the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI), said that there were two main health consequences if the people consumed too much salt.
First, it was dangerous for those who had problems with hypertension and secondly, their hearts.