TPJ supplies water with the help of 26 tankers

TPJ supplies water with the help of 26 tankers

JAKARTA (JP): PT Thames Pam Jaya (TPJ), one of city-owned
water company PDAM Jaya's partners, announced on Friday that it
had supplied over 140,000 liters of water to its customers
experiencing water shortages following a rupture of the West
Tarum canal in West Java.

John Hurcom, TPJ's president, said that the distribution of
the water supplies was conducted with the help of 26 tankers
deployed in a number of the affected areas, including Kramat
Lontar, Cempaka Putih and Matraman.

"We have worked hard to ensure the customers have access to
emergency water supplies. TPJ can be contacted 24 hours a day on
5772010," Hurcom said in a statement.

He said the customers might experience slight discoloration in
their water because of the canal problem. "However, it is okay as
long as it is boiled before being consumed," he said.

He said the firm is working together with Perum Otorita
Jatiluhur (POJ) dam authority and the Ministry of Public Works to
ensure the water supplies are back to normal.

The rupture, which occurred on Dec. 9, has reduced the volume
of water passing through the city's treatment plants in Buaran
and Pulogadung in East Jakarta and Pejompongan in Central Jakarta
by 41 percent.

The usual volume of water passing through the plants is 16.3
cubic meters per second, but this has dropped to only 9.7 cubic
meters.

A city administration circular said that the tap water supply
to East and North Jakarta had been cut by 45 percent. In Central,
South and the central part of North Jakarta, flows have been
reduced by 30 percent. No details were available of disruptions
to the supply in West Jakarta.

Meanwhile, Rama Boedi, PDAM Jaya's head, said that the city
authority will "take a note of" demand for compensation for
drinking water customers due to the water supply disruption.

He said that such a clause was not contained in the agreement.
"It's quite difficult to meet the demand but we will discuss the
matter with our business partners and other related
institutions," he said.

Besides cooperating with TPJ, which manages and operates the
water supply for the eastern part of Jakarta, PDAM Jaya also
cooperates with Pam Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja), which supplies
western Jakarta.

Rama said that should the demand be met the authority would
really check out those who had suffered major losses due to the
disruption.

Vice chairman of the Indonesian Consumers Organizations Agus
Pambagio had said that the authorities should compensate drinking
water customers for disruption for the sake of fair play as
customers were punished immediately if they violated certain
regulations as in the late payment of water bills. (ind/jun)