Thousands affected by water supply disruption

JAKARTA (JP): Thousands of tap water customers in North, East and some parts of Central Jakarta got no water supplies on Tuesday following the collapse of West Tarum Canal dike located in Kali Malang, East Jakarta on Monday evening.

Due to the collapse of the dike, state-owned Perum Jasa Tirta II halted water supplies to two Jakarta tap water companies.

This affectively forced the two companies -- PT Thames Pam Jaya (TPJ) and PT Pam Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja) -- to stop providing clean water supplies to customers in North, East and some areas in Central Jakarta.

Many people in those affected areas complained about the disruption of tap water supplies.

Tiono, a resident of Serdang subdistrict, Kemayoran district, Central Jakarta, for example, complained on Tuesday that his tap water supply had stopped since Monday at 7 p.m.

"I spent Rp 10,000 to buy water from water traders this morning for my family," Tiono said.

He added that he tried to contact TPJ, which supplies water to customers in eastern Jakarta, but to no avail.

"I telephoned the firm several times, but the lines were constantly engaged," Tiono said.

Another tap water customer, Ali, also grumbled, saying that he and thousands of his neighbors in Perumnas Klender housing complex, East Jakarta, had experienced disruption of their water supplies since Monday evening.

Ali said many residents had to pay for water from water retailers, except those who owned water jet-pumps.

City Governor Sutiyoso urged TPJ and Palyja on Tuesday to provide water-tank trucks to supply affected residents.

"Related parties should take the necessary action to overcome the lack of water supplies," Sutiyoso told reporters, but admitted that he had yet to receive a report about the collapse of the dike.

TPJ said in a statement on Tuesday that the collapse of the canal dike had adversely affected its water-processing plants in Pulogadung and Buaran, East Jakarta.

It said that as of Tuesday, the two processing plants were running at only 25 percent of their full capacity. But it promised that it would do its best to tackle the problem.

Meanwhile, Palyja said that the collapse of the dike affected its water-treatment plant in Pejompongan, Central Jakarta, which was operating at only 40 percent of its full capacity.

It predicted that they would need one week to repair the collapsed dike.

TPJ, a subsidiary of British Thames Water International, has about 200,000 customers while Palyja, a subsidiary of French Lyonnaise des Eaux, has about 300,000 customers. (jun)