PDAM Jaya employees quit jobs with foreign partners

JAKARTA (JP): Scores of employees with city water company PDAM Jaya's partners -- PT Pam Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja) and PT Thames Jaya (TPJ) -- stopped work on Friday to protest the companies' operations.

Moerdiyanto, chairman of the PDAM Jaya labor union, said the strategy was taken to push the city administration to cancel the cooperation on water management with the two joint venture companies.

"We want a return to PDAM Jaya being the highest authority in managing tap water in the city. Furthermore, we were never assigned to work for TPJ or Palyja, because our contracts are for PT Garuda Dipta Semesta (GDS) and PT Kekar Pola Airindo (Kati)," he said.

These two companies were the old partners of PDAM Jaya before they were replaced by TPJ and Palyja.

GDS was owned by former president Soeharto's crony Anthony Salim, who cooperated with Lyonnaise des Eaux of France to manage water distribution in the western part of the city, while Kati was a joint venture company between Soeharto's son Sigit Hardjojudanto and Thames Water International of Britain and managed the eastern part of the city.

The administration canceled the cooperation with Kati and GDS to reduce corruption to appease demands of the reform movement that toppled Soeharto on May 21, last year.

Moerdiyanto said PDAM Jaya president Rama Boedi should take the employees back because it was Rama who assigned them to GDS and Kati.

Out of 3,000 PDAM Jaya employees, 1,500 are assigned to work with Palyja; 1,300 with TPJ and the remaining 200 at the PDAM Jaya headquarters.

Since April 8, PDAM Jaya employees have staged rallies demanding that the joint ventures be canceled, saying the contracts are illegal. The protests initially started over higher wages paid to employees at company headquarters compared to those working at the joint ventures.

Palyja commissioner Bernard Lafrogne said Palyja would let go those unwilling to work for the company.

"We can't force them if they don't like it. Moreover, the number of employees is too big," he told The Jakarta Post.

Separately, city councilors Amarullah Asbah and Saud Rahman urged Governor Sutiyoso to solve the dispute as soon as possible.

"There is an impression that Sutiyoso just lets the case go on," said Amarullah.

He also said it was time for the Ministry of Home Affairs to help the administration handle the problem, explaining that the demonstration had caused losses to city residents. (ind)