'Water rate hike is burdensome'

'Water rate hike is burdensome'

Like it or not, Jakartans have to see automatic water rate hikes
by between 4 and 16 percent every six months for the next five
years. The announcement was made more than 10 days after it took
effect. The Jakarta Post asked residents about their opinion on
the issue.

Ellya, 25, works as a marketing staffer with a car showroom in
Matraman in East Jakarta. She lives in Salemba Tengah, Central
Jakarta with her family:

What hike? Water tariff? I have not heard about the increase.
If it's true, that will definitely add more burden to my family's
budget as we don't use ground water.

I could not accept the reason that it was meant to pay the
debt. The reason doesn't make sense to me.

For me, the most important thing is an improvement in the
service. With water disruption almost every day, please don't
ever talk about raising the water tariff.

Aprilina, 28, is a public relation consultant, whose office on
Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta. She lives in Condet subdistrict,
East Jakarta:

To tell you the truth, I have no interest to discuss about the
increase of tapwater tariff. I use groundwater for our daily
need, so I won't be much affected.

But I must say that the continuous water hike is not fair
because the operators have not been able to improve their
services -- water supply is not always available and its quality
is still poor.

Maybe the customers will accept the water hike if they also
see continuous effort to improve service.

I think the hike will also burden low-income costumers, such
as the low-ranking civil servants.

Moreover, in the economic situation like this, no companies
would be able to increase significant amount of salaries for
their employees.

It's more wise for the city administration to raise water
tariff only for rich customers.

--The Jakarta Post