Tap water shortage forces Tambora residents to buy water and collect rainwater

Jakarta – Residents in RT 007/RW 003, Jembatan Besi Village, Tambora District, West Jakarta are forced to purchase water and collect rainwater to meet their daily needs due to a severe shortage of piped water from PAM Jaya.

One resident, Sandi (39), reported that water supply from PAM has not flowed normally at his house for the past two weeks. Even when it does flow, the water pressure is so low that it cannot meet household needs.

“If it’s like this, we definitely have to buy water. And that means additional expenses,” Sandi said at the location on Wednesday.

To purchase water carriers, he must spend approximately IDR 20,000 to IDR 30,000 per day. He believes this expense is quite burdensome because it must be incurred regularly.

“Usually it costs about IDR 20,000 to IDR 30,000 a day. It’s been like this for the past two weeks – when PAM water doesn’t come out. And even when it does, it’s just a trickle,” he said.

“We collect rainwater and use it to flush toilets. We have a well but don’t use it because it’s too dirty. We’ve already tired of complaining. It’s not just us – many others are complaining too. But there’s still no solution,” he added.

Meanwhile, Senior Manager of Corporate and Customer Communications at PAM Jaya, Gatra Vaganza, stated that the water supply difficulty in Tambora was triggered by a pipe rupture caused by the Flyover Latumeten construction project.

“Yes, that’s correct – there is a 500-millimetre pipe leak caused by the flyover project,” Gatra said.

However, Gatra mentioned that the pipe rupture caused by the project was actually completed two weeks ago.

Although the main repair has been completed, Gatra acknowledged that water supply to the RW 03 Jembatan Besi area has not returned to normal.

“There’s an anomaly in RW 3. There’s a clogging issue – supposedly a blockage in the pipe that our team is currently searching for. This blockage is in the line leading to RW 3, which is why supply hasn’t normalised yet,” he explained.

“Our team cannot estimate when this will be resolved at the moment. But typically, it shouldn’t take more than a week,” he added.