Water shortages in Jakarta to be over soon

JAKARTA(JP): After suffering from water shortages for one week, tap water customers in West and South Jakarta will get more water starting on Tuesday as the Tangerang tap water company agreed on Monday to restore normal water supplies to Jakarta.

Tangerang regency-owned water company PAM Tangerang agreed to restore water supplies to Jakarta's joint venture water company PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja) following a meeting between officials of the Tangerang and Jakarta administrations.

The head of PAM Tangerang's community service section, Iman Fachri, said his company was still demanding an increase in rates for the water it supplies to Palyja.

"We agreed to normalize the water supply. In the meantime, we are looking for another meeting with the Palyja director to discuss our demand," Iman told The Jakarta Post.

PAM Tangerang reduced its usual supply to Palyja from 2,200 liters per second to 1,500 liters per second, following a prolonged dispute over water rates.

PAM Tangerang demanded a rate increase of 16.8 percent, up from the current price of Rp 915 per cubic meter, but Palyja simply refused to pay, saying the demand was excessive given the imposition of a 24 percent increase last year.

Iman said the decision to restore normal water supplies to Palyja was taken following an order from Tangerang Regent Agus Djunara.

"Our regent believes the public needs to be served, so we have put aside the disagreement for a while to supply the water needed by the public.

"Jakartans are also human like us here, they need water for their daily lives," Iman said.

He said that right after the meeting, the water supply returned to normal.

Separately, Palyja spokeswoman Maria Sidabutar also confirmed the water supplies had returned to normal, but she warned that it would take some time to distribute the water to end customers.

"It will gradually return to normal. The process here needs some adjustment. Maybe later in the afternoon or on Tuesday, some areas will enjoy the return of a normal water supply," Maria said.

Palyja, a joint venture between city-owned water company PAM Jaya and French-based Lyonaise des Eaux, said earlier that the decrease in water supplies from Tangerang had affected 117,000 customers -- out of its total customer base of 275,000 -- mainly in West and South Jakarta.

Maria, however, declined to comment on PAM Tangerang's demand for a rate increase.

Meanwhile, Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso rejected the demand by PAM Tangerang to increase the water rate, contending the firm increased the rate last year.

"The company should not make Jakarta customers bear its costs. We will refuse this," Sutiyoso said on Monday at the City Council building.

He said the administration had assigned the city's assistant for developmental affairs, Ongky Sukasah, to discuss the dispute with the Tangerang regency administration.

Meanwhile, a number of customers in West Jakarta and South Jakarta complained that they were still suffering water shortages.

Saragih, a resident of Jl. Puspa, East Cengkareng, West Jakarta, said he and his neighbors had suffered shortages for almost a week.

"We get water only in the night, from the morning until dusk there is no water at all," Saragih said.

And he said there were no longer water sellers in the area, having left when Palyja arrived two years ago.

He said the situation was made worse because residents could not use water from artesian wells because the water was salty. (jun/emf)