TPJ water company cuts off supply to Klender apartment

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.