Revised bill on exploitation of ground water passed into law
JAKARTA (JP): The City Council passed a revisionary bill on the drilling of deep wells and the consumption of ground water on Monday.
The law, which is aimed at discouraging Jakartans from using ground water, was passed by the council at a plenary session chaired by Deputy Chairman Ismunandar.
The city administration is concerned with the depletion of ground water reserves and potential salt water intrusion.
It breaks down ground water users into 30, tighter categories -- the old law distinguished only 12 categories of users -- and stipulates a 100 percent to 500 percent increase in the fees for pumping out a cubic meter of ground water.
For instance, households within the service areas of the City Water Company, PAM Jaya, which consume 51 to 500 cubic meters of ground water per month will, based on the new law, have to pay Rp 1,000 (46 US cents) per cubic meter.
The old law stated that household users within the reach of PAM Jaya who consumed from 101 to 500 cubic meters per month were subject to a pumping fee of Rp 200 per cubic meter. Thus, compared to the old law, the new fee reflects a 50 percent increase.
Unlike the old law which treated both small and big industries equally, the revised one classifies industries and distinguishes their fees by as much as Rp 1,900 per cubic meter.
Big industries include ice, food and beverage, chemical/ pharmaceutical, cosmetics, refrigeration, textile and steel industries.
While the old law was silent on the consumption of ground water by embassies and consulates, the new law requires foreign representative offices to pay pumping fees.
They range from Rp 1,200 to Rp 1,750 per cubic meter for taking ground water in the areas within the reach of PAM Jaya and from Rp 800 to Rp 1,300 per cubic meter for ground water use in the areas outside the service of PAM Jaya.
Small-scale
The new law also introduces small-scale businesses and large- scale businesses which were not dealt with in the old law.
Small-scale businesses mentioned in the new law include home- based businesses, boarding houses, physicians' offices, laboratories, hospitals, clinics and non-starred hotels while the large-scale ones include banks, nite-clubs, bars, service stations, beauty parlors and starred hotels.
Pumping fees for small-scale businesses range from Rp 950 to Rp 2,300 per cubic meter of ground water, while for large-scale businesses the fees are Rp 1,650 at minimum and Rp 4,000 at maximum.
The only ground water users exempt from the new law are houses of worship and orphanages.
The law states that drilling for artesian wells must be done by companies certified by the directorate of geology and environmental management at the Ministry of Mines and Energy and enforces heavier penalties for violators.
Last month, the city administration closed eight artesian wells and punished owners of 66 others for a series of violations.
The law also requires applicants for a new deep well to enclose a thorough feasibility study on environmental impact and their environmental management programs. This includes the management of waste water. (06)