Tenants face Rp 411m water bills
Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
About 6,000 tenants in low-cost apartments in Klender, East Jakarta, face the likelihood of being without water unless the company that manages the apartments pays Rp 411 million (US$47,400) in outstanding water bills within 30 days.
The tenants said they were surprised to learn that water operator PT Thames PAM Jaya (TPJ) had not received their payments as they had paid the money to the apartments' agent, who was supposed to deliver the cash to the company.
Negotiations between tenants and TPJ, however, have not produced results, and the residents may have to pay the arrears to TPJ themselves instead of the agent.
TPJ, the water supplier to the apartments, announced on Wednesday that it would turn off the water supply to the apartments next month if the agent, PPRSK, failed to settle the debt, which has been outstanding since August 2000.
Berton Tobing, a 50-year-old apartment resident, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that he always paid his water bills to PPRSK on time, and was concerned about TPJ's ultimatum.
"It is not our fault, we always pay our bills on time. Why should we be punished?" he said.
Mia Korompis, a TPJ spokeswoman, told the Post that her company realized that making the residents take the responsibility would not be fair, because the party responsible was PPRSK, which had not appeared serious about paying the arrears.
According to her, TPJ had evidence that PPRSK had been invoicing residents at significantly higher rates for their water consumption, but had failed to deliver the payment to TPJ.
Technically, the Klender apartments are classified as being on one "big meter", and therefore TPJ cannot charge the residents individually, but only through PPRSK, which is supposed to forward the tenants' payments to the company, she said.
"Our action may cause inconvenience to the tenants, but we are left with no workable solution," she said.
She said that TPJ hoped the ultimatum would prompt the tenants to put pressure on PPRSK to take responsibility.
She also suggested that the tenants had the option of reporting PPRSK to the police and taking the matter to court.
Either way, she said, a slight clarification of possible settlements in the case would be enough to forestall disconnection, considering the goodwill displayed by the tenants.
Nur, a PPRSK administrator, denied that his party had any outstanding debts with TPJ and claimed that the money collected was not owed to TPJ, but was used to maintain the water supply infrastructure and none of the money went to either him or his colleagues as individuals.
"Before August 2000, TPJ collected money directly from the tenants, but irregularities occurred and a big chunk amounting to Rp 520 million was PPRSK's right," he said.
Korompis said that from April 1998 to August 2000, TPJ did collect payments directly and charged tenants at the regular household rate of about Rp 1,300 per cubic meter. After August 2000, payments were collected through PPRSK, and a lower rate of Rp 375 per cubic meter for low-cost housing was charged.
"I presumed PPRSK is claiming the difference between the regular rate and the lower rate within that period," she said.
TPJ has a 25-year partnership contract with PAM Jaya to operate, maintain and improve the water distribution system in eastern Jakarta.
TPJ and other water operators in Jakarta have been criticized for increasing water rates, and they have been advised to focus on reducing water leakages and other losses in order to curb high operational costs rather than burdening customers with rate increases.