TPJ water company cuts off supply to Klender apartment
Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Some 6,000 residents in Klender apartments in East Jakarta are upset as a result of having their normal water supply cut off by water company PT Thames PAM Jaya (TPJ) on Friday for being nearly three years and US$50,000 behind on their water bills.
The problem centers around the tenants' agent, called Klender Apartment Tenants' Association (PPRSK), which has refused to pay water charges since August 2000, and is now in arrears to the tune of Rp 411 million (approximately US$49,939).
Yeni, 42, an apartment resident, said that she always paid her water bills to the agent on time, and felt that the disruption was unfair.
"It was not our (tenants) fault, we always settle the bills on time, why should the punishment be meted out to us?" she asked.
Lani, 29, a mother of a two-month-old baby, was even more frustrated as she lives on the fourth floor and cannot easily bring water up to her apartment.
"TPJ is providing water in a tanker truck, but how am I supposed to bring the water up to my apartment?" she wondered.
After TPJ officials, accompanied by the police, cut the water connection at around 11 a.m., the company's tanker truck was seen standing by to provide water to the tenants.
Rhamses Simanjuntak, spokesman for TPJ, said that the company will truck water in at the company's normal rates after the disconnection, taking into account that the tenants had paid the agents for their water.
He said that the trucks would fill up the tenants' water basins, from where water will be pumped to the apartments, therefore residents do not need to stand in line and buy water personally.
The British-based company realizes that passing the burden off to the residents would be unfair, because the agent should be held responsible, he said.
He said that TPJ hoped the disconnection would move the residents to putting pressure on their agent to take the responsibility and settle its debt.
The supply will be restored if an agreement can be reached between TPJ and a newly established agent or if the City Council orders the restoration the water supply, he said.
Wempy, the tenant coordinator, said that the residents had already reported the agent to the police, and 10 people were interrogated regarding the case, but no one had been arrested yet.
PPRSK's chairman is also a senior member of a large, powerful political party, so we have very little faith that the police will actually try to solve the case, he alleged.
The residents also questioned why TPJ disconnected the supply after bills were outstanding for 28 months, while usually, arrears exceeding three months would warrant such action.
Rhamses said that in early 2001 TPJ had disconnected the water supply. However, someone in the apartment managed to turn it back on by breaking a seal. Since then, in respect of humanitarian considerations, the company tried different approaches to settling the debt without cutting the water off.