Waiting for Water That Never Comes in Jembatan Besi...

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – The clean water crisis affecting the Jembatan Besi area, Tambora, West Jakarta, has forced residents to find creative ways to meet their daily water needs.

Due to the irregular flow of water from the PAM (Jakarta’s water company) for over a month, residents have been forced to take various emergency measures to cope with the limitations.

Sandi (39), a resident of RW 03 Jembatan Besi, said that the water problem has been occurring for about the last month. In fact, in the last two weeks, there has been no water supply.

The dry taps have forced Sandi to spend extra money, around Rp 20,000-Rp 30,000 each day, to buy water from mobile vendors.

Sandi said that assistance in the form of water tank trucks from PAM did come, but it only lasted for one day and the amount was far from sufficient for all residents.

“People across the street even bought water by the truckload, buying it themselves for their homes and their neighbors,” he said.

Uci (48), a resident of RT 07 RW 03, has had to bear even greater expenses.

During the water outage, she has been forced to buy water from mobile vendors for Rp 50,000 each day.

“It’s used for bathing, washing, and cooking. It’s not enough for just one day. If I wash clothes at a laundry, it’s still not enough for bathing and cooking,” said Uci.

To reduce daily expenses, which are increasing due to having to constantly buy water, Sandi has been forced to rely on rainwater. She collects rainwater for basic sanitation needs in her home.

Sandi said that she actually has a well in her house that could be used as an alternative during the PAM supply crisis.

However, the quality of the groundwater is very poor and often becomes dirty and cloudy when it rains, so it is not suitable for use.

Unable to cope with the situation, Uci’s family finally took another step. They spent Rp 2 million to install a new pipeline.