Waterfront city project still has water problems

JAKARTA (JP): A plan for a waterfront city in North Jakarta, which will incorporate housing, business centers and recreational facilities, has yet to find a way to get adequate clean water.

The head of the Jakarta Waterfront Development Program (JWDP), M. Sidarta, said yesterday consultations with the state-owned water company, PAM Jaya, were still underway.

The project aims to reclaim 2,700 hectares and improve 2,500 hectares of the North Jakarta coast.

The JWDP aims to supply each resident with at least 200 liters of water daily. Sidarta could not mention figures yesterday but said the project already had estimates of the amount of clean water needed.

Governor Surjadi Soedirdja earlier said the project would support around 270,000 people.

The planned waterfront city, based on a 1995 presidential decree which authorized the municipality to develop the project, is expected to be completed in 30 years.

The ambitious project includes providing every property in the area with potable water, sewage and drainage systems of "international standard."

Major water treatment facilities are to be located in the western, central and eastern zone, according to a Jakarta Waterfront Implementation Board brochure.

A water resources expert, Arwin Sabar, earlier said recycling would have to be a major policy in supplying water to the new area given the high price of clean water.

"Clean water now costs up to Rp 10,000 (US$4.25) per cubic meter," Arwin of the Bandung Institute on Technology said in a discussion on Jakarta's water conditions.

Sidarta said the terms of reference for the required environmental impact analysis (Amdal) had just been completed.

"We have acquired feedback from the Environmental Impact Management Agency (Bapedal) on the terms of reference, and we will discuss it with officials in a few weeks," said Sidarta, who also heads the city's zoning agency.

Sidarta said a clearance from Bapedal would enable the start of a regional environmental impact analysis, to be followed by specific Amdal reports for each project in the reclamation plan. (anr)