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Indonesia warned of looming water crisis
Ratna, a resident of a slum in Cilincing, North Jakarta, has struggled for years to cope with chronic water shortages
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Ratna, a resident of a slum in Cilincing, North Jakarta, has struggled for years to cope with chronic water shortages.
The mother of three young children says her only water source is a well located at the back of her depleted hut, which runs out of water during the dry season.
To provide her family with adequate clean water, she has to buy it from a vendor for Rp 3,000 (US$0.30) per jerry can. Her family needs at least three jerry cans a day.
Without access to tap water, Ratna has to spend more than a quarter of her husband’s salary on clean water.
To have clean water, she has had to slash her children’s food budget, she said.
“I have no choice. I can’t do household chores without clean water,” she said. “My kids are used to eating rice with just soy sauce. They have never complained about it.”
Hanung Santono, an activist with the People’s Coalition for the Right to Water, said water shortages would affect even more people in the future if the government failed to handle the matter seriously.
A 2003 study by the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) found densely populated Java, Bali and Nusa Tenggara to be the three areas most vulnerable to water shortages.
In 2003, water demand in Java and Bali reached 38.4 billion cubic meters while tap water production only stood at 25.3 billion cubic meters. People without access to tap water have to rely on underground water or resort to rivers, even though many of them are polluted.
Walhi predicted more residents of Jakarta and Bali would face water shortages in coming years because water demand was growing faster than water provision.
“Water crises affect the poor the most. The poor have to pay more for water than other residents who have access to treated tap water,” said Hanung.
“It is ridiculous the poor have to pay more to get clean water simply because they have no access to tap water.”
He criticized the government’s decision to allow private sector management of treated tap water after it failed to provide clean water to the wider public.
He said 11 years after water privatization, tap water only met 55 percent of demand and water quality remained poor.
“Private sectors do not aim to provide water for everyone; it is a business for them. Our Constitution says every citizen is entitled to clean water.”
He said the government should stop perceiving water as a commodity and reclaim water management from the private sector.
Achmad Lanti, chairman of the Jakarta water supply regulatory body, said Tuesday illegal water connections and consumption hampered water operators from increasing supply to meet the increasing demand.
“Both PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya and PT Thames Pam Jaya provide 17,000 liters of water a second. Half of this amount is lost due to illegal pipe connections,” he said, referring to the city’s tap water providers.
Legislator Alvin Lie of the National Mandate Party (PAN) said he was fearful the water crisis would trigger nationwide conflict in the future.
“As long as people can still rely on underground water, a serious water shortage is not imminent,” said the member of Commission VII on energy, research, technology, science and the environment.
“But underground water can be exhausted if people keep exploiting it, and once that happens, I am afraid conflict is inevitable,” he said.
