Water company finds water theft

An ice factory, a restaurant and a car wash service in North Jakarta were caught red-handed stealing water from the City Water Company, PDAM Jaya.

The water theft was uncovered late last week during a special operation code-named Operation Dawn.

The water company monitored each place closely before it launched the operation, said operation chief Saidin Murkana. He added that the operation at the ice factory located in Jl. Industri started at 1:30 a.m.

Saidin said Operation Dawn at the ice factory was undertaken on information provided by the public. There was an illegal connection between the water company's pipe network and a fire hydrant in Jl. Rawa Badak, North Jakarta. The illegal connection was installed by the ice factory, which allowed it free, unrecorded use of the PDAM water.

Saidin, was quoted by a daily as saying on Monday, the factory owner did not even have time to disconnect all the illegal devices he had installed in the water meter to tamper with the recording. (03)