Water crisis is back

In the first half of this year many Jakartans believed they were blessed because the rain kept falling. On many occasions in the past, heavy rains stopped at the beginning of the year. This year, people were convinced there would be no serious water crisis. But unfortunately they were wrong.

Water shortages which hit Jakarta almost every year have also not spared the city this year. Many wells in some parts of Jakarta have already dried up. In other parts of the city, people have failed to find water when digging new wells.

Officials have warned the public of the advance of a prolonged dry season. Such a long dry spell will not only affect crops in the provinces but will also affect Jakartans' daily water supplies.

In fact, a severe water crisis has not hit the capital since the 1950s after the state-owned clean water project was opened in Pejompongan in 1954. But with the rapid growth of the city's population the ugly problem has returned. The population problem is not only a result of squatters who have left their rural poverty to flock to Jakarta, but also members of the privileged elite who build their houses on water catchment areas or erect artesian wells which are able to extract a greater quantity of water from the ground.

To face the coming crisis, Jakarta Governor Surjadi Soedirdja has reminded people of the importance of saving water during this year's dry spell and urged middle and upper-class people to show their solidarity.

The governor urged people to use water as efficiently as possible and told members of the middle and upper class who usually wash their cars three times a day "once should be enough for now". It is ironic that while some people are thirsty, others have swimming pools in their backyards.

The call to reduce water usage was made due to the limited capability of the city-owned water company to supply an ample amount of water. Even if the existing water supply is used under normal circumstances, the city is still projected to face water shortages. Currently, the city water company's customers represent only 40 percent of the city's 9.8 million people. But the company has promised to help people overcome the crisis by supplying them with drinking water.

But it is not yet certain whether the gubernatorial appeal will produce any results since social solidarity here is very low. Many people turn a blind eye to regulations, much less an appeal.

The other side of the long dry season is the higher incidence of fire in many slum areas. Fires which occur in the dry season are usually more difficult to extinguish because fire departments are also affected by the water shortage.

While the authorities' actions are welcomed, it looks more like a symptomatic approach to the problem with no long-term program in place to end the latent crisis. The city's water catchment areas are reduced each year with the authorities' full knowledge. Senayan, in the south of the city, should remain a green area instead of being turned into a concrete jungle.

Many people have criticized the city administration for letting areas initially allocated for water catchment or public parks, be changed into public facilities, offices or gas stations.

But it not easy to find a solution to this problem. Some project developers have powerful connections with power holders. It's ironic that the governor himself recently joined the public complaint about the "disappearance" of many water catchment areas, saying that most developers tend to view the city's green areas as target sites for housing and shopping complexes.

It's a tragic irony that along with Jakarta's water supply, social responsibility has also dried up.