Private firms, PAM Jaya to work together

Private firms, PAM Jaya to work together

JAKARTA (JP): City-owned water company PAM Jaya will sign a
cooperation agreement with two local companies to expand and
manage tap water distribution in the city, Minister of Public
Works Radinal Moochtar said yesterday.

Speaking after a meeting with Governor Surjadi Soedirdja at
City Hall, the minister said that the cooperation agreement is
intended to help improve the company's services.

Radinal said that, under the agreement, a new water
distribution network will be built to increase the capacity of
water production, to cater to city residents.

"Basically, the cooperation aims to improve PAM Jaya's
services and enable more Jakartans to enjoy tap water in the
future," Radinal said.

He explained that projects to be covered in the cooperation
agreement will include the installation of new water pipe
networks throughout the city and the provision of inputs for PAM
Jaya's management in water distribution to help the city-owned
company materialize its target, to provide tap water to all
Jakartans by the year 2005.

Radinal said that the agreement's memorandum of understanding
is still being prepared by representatives of the city
administration and the Ministry of Public Works and is expected
to be completed soon.

"We are still reviewing the draft of the memorandum of
understanding and it is unethical, at this time, to announce the
names of the private companies which are taking part in the
agreement," he said, when asked to name the companies.

Asked whether foreign companies will also be involved in the
cooperation projects, Radinal said, "It's up to them to cooperate
with foreign companies."

Poor services

PAM Jaya has long been criticized for its poor services and
its incapability to expand water distribution.

This year, the production capacity of PAM Jaya is about 12,235
liters per second, adequate to serve approximately 341,000
Jakartans only. By comparison, Jakarta's population is over nine
million at present.

PAM Jaya's management has argued that the inability to improve
its service is caused by a number of problems, including water
pilferage, inefficiency in the distribution system and aging
pipes.

Last year the water leakage alone reached 44.84 percent of
total production. Out of a production of 344,222 cubic meters in
1994, approximately 189,879 cubic meters only were registered at
metering devices installed in consumers' houses.

In a related incident, head of the Jakarta Office of Public
Works Ministry, Dargono, said that the government is also
inviting private companies to build and manage a sewerage system
in the city.

He said that the only sewerage system in operation in the city
is in Setiabudi, South Jakarta, and is used to treat liquid
wastes from hotels and office buildings around the area, before
being poured into the rivers.

"In the future, the sewerage system is expected to cover all
areas throughout the city. The installation of the system is
intended to prevent rivers from being polluted," Dargono said
yesterday.

He said the involvement of private companies is badly needed
as its installation requires a great deal of funds. (yns)