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)