Decision on water supply irks Jakarta customers

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 05/15/2006 12:26 PM  |  Jakarta

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The 2006 World Cup has not yet started, but some Cengkareng residents in West Jakarta are already suffering from sleepless nights.

""Not for soccer but for water?"" snapped an indignant participant at a tap water seminar at the Grand Cempaka Hotel in Central Jakarta.

The man was perhaps voicing the grudges of about 270,000 tap water customers in West Jakarta and South Jakarta who were affected by PDAM Tangerang's unilateral decision last week to gradually reduce water supplies to the capital, from 2,700 liters per second to 2,200 liters per second.

The move was the result of stalled negotiations between the city's water operator, PT PAM Lyonase Jaya (Palyja), and Tangerang's operator, PDAM Tirta Kerta Raharja (TKR), over an increase in raw water prices.

PDAM TKR demanded a 23 percent hike from Rp 1,345 (US 14 cent) per cubic meter to Rp 1,650 per cubic meter. Jakarta insisted on setting the price Rp 100 lower, at 1,550 per cubic meter.

""They're the ones who are arguing, but it's the customers who have to pay the losses,"" Achmad Djiddan Safwan, chairman of the Jakarta Water Customers Community, told reporters.

He bluntly threatened to file a lawsuit against PDAM Tangerang and the Jakarta Water Regulatory Board for failing to immediately arbitrate the rift between the two water operators.

No deal has yet been signed between PAM Jaya and PDAM Tangerang to end the dispute. ""It's worrisome, because the two insisted on holding their ground,"" water regulatory board chairman Achmad Lanti told The Jakarta Post.

Tangerang regent Ismet Iskandar has sent a letter to governor Sutiyoso, asking the latter to understand the regency's reasons for raising the price.

""The hike we're seeking is normal, because it will give Tangerang residents a sense of equality,"" Ismet was quoted as saying by a daily newspaper. For comparison, PDAM Tangerang sells raw water to their residents at Rp 1,800.

""If Sutiyoso is consistent with his megapolitan concept, he had better start by instituting a clear regulation on water supplied from (our regency),"" he said.

PDAM TKR's production head Sudarnoto said the decision to raise the price and reduce water supplies to the capital was based on recommendations from Tangerang residents, including members of the regental legislative council.

""PDAM TKR is currently serving only 12 percent of Tangerang's population. Many are still waiting for tap water service,"" he said. ""If Jakarta refuses to heed our demand, then why not cut our supplies so we can focus on expanding our services in the regency?""

Governor Sutiyoso sounded a note of outrage over the regency's ""threat"". ""We're neighbors and depend on each other. There's no need for threats,"" he told reporters. He added that he would not get involved in the matter but would ask PAM Jaya and PDAM to settle the problem immediately.

PT PAM Jaya's technical director Kris Tutuko, however, told the Post that the city-owned water company had not yet scheduled a meeting to negotiate with PDAM Tangerang. ""We haven't talked about it internally yet,"" he said.

The company, Kris said, was now trying to minimize the impact of the lack of supply from Tangerang by boosting the capacity of water treatment plants in Pejompongan, Central Jakarta, and in Pulogadung and Buaran, which are both in East Jakarta.

""We'll try to increase the capacity up to 200 liters per second,"" he said, adding that the company has also diverted some of the supply for the eastern part of the city to the west.

""We are also providing mobile water tanks,"" he said.

In 2001, PDAM Tangerang partially cut water supplies for Jakarta in a similar disagreement over price.

""The team of experts that was tasked to facilitate the dispute at the time recommended a scheme to anticipate similar intimidations,"" Achmad Lanti, who headed the team, said. ""But somehow, the two did not include the scheme in the contract agreement.""

He added that it's difficult to diminish the dependence on water supplies from Tangerang, given the already depleted groundwater in the city. PDAM supplies about 30 percent of Palyja's tap water distribution.

The city's development assistant, Nurfaqih, said the administration would ask the government to appoint a national regulatory board to intercede in the tiff. ""We wanted water supplies to be guaranteed. We don't want Tangerang to easily cut it unilaterally,"" he said. (01)

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