Business players in Jakarta remain undeterred by the administration's plan to set higher tariffs on groundwater consumption because they primarily use tap water for operations.
"We realized natural resources would eventually deplete. So, over the last five years, we have been focusing on how to maintain economical water consumption," director of communication at the Shangrila Hotel in Central Jakarta, Ratna Sjamsiar Idris, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
She said a large percentage of water consumed in the hotel came from tap water as the quality of groundwater in the hotel area was not good enough.
Chief assistant to engineering manager at the Jakarta Stock Exchange building, Johny Hutauruk, said the plan to raise tariffs would not affect the building's operation, which uses tap water for 85 percent of the 18,000 cubic meters of water it consumes monthly.
"We only use groundwater in emergency conditions, as we might an electricity generator machine," said Johny.
He said the building's management always tried to respect the 30 cubic meter per day maximum limit of groundwater consumption.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange building is just one of six tower-buildings in the 44-hectares Sudirman Central Business District (SCBD), in Central Jakarta.
"Groundwater is more expensive than tap water. So, more than 80 percent of our water consumption is tap water," said head of SCBD estate management Hari Suryanto.
He said SCBD consumed on average 60,000 cubic meters of tap water per month.
"The use of groundwater depends on each building's caretaker. However, the increasing tariffs should not impact us because we mostly use tap water."
The Mining Agency recently announced its plan to increase groundwater fares for businesses and industries by six times to match its prices with those of tap water operators.
Head of the agency's groundwater management department Dian Wiwekowati told the Post the new prices ranged between Rp 8,800 (about US$0.97) and Rp 23,300 per cubic meter, while current prices stand at between Rp 550 and Rp 3,660 per cubic meter.
The fares depend on consumer categories, which include non-business; small business; large business, including hotels and offices; small industry; and large industry.
The new groundwater tariffs would be far higher than the current tap water tariffs of up to Rp 12,550 per cubic meter for businesses and industries.
Director of Amrta Institute for water literacy Nila Ardhianie told the Post on Monday there was little chance consumers of groundwater would turn to using the city's tap water, which he cited as unreliable.
She said the increases might instead trigger groundwater theft among the business entities.
She cited a 2005 study conducted by Amrta and Tifa Foundation in Sleman, Central Java, that showed only 8 percent of 337 hotels in the area were registered as having groundwater wells.
"The tendency for business players to steal groundwater in Jakarta may be worse than in Sleman," said Nila, who estimated more than 50 percent of hotels in Sleman were using groundwater.
