Groundwater rates to rise

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 04/05/2008 12:42 PM | City

The City Council has applauded the administration's plan to raise rates on groundwater consumption, saying it is necessary to avert a water crisis.

Deputy chairman of the council's Commission B for development, Nurmansjah Lubis, said Friday the less groundwater used by businesses and industries, the more "we can save our water resources".

"I support the policy to set groundwater rates to be more expensive than tap water," he said.

City mining agency head Peni Susanti said groundwater rates had not changed for the past six years, while tap water rates had increased almost every year.

The new groundwater rates will range between Rp 8,000 (about 95 US cents) and Rp 20,000 per cubic meter. Currently, rates stand between Rp 525 and Rp 3,600 per cubic meter.

The current tap water rates for businesses and industries are as high as Rp 12,550 per cubic meter.

"Given this situation, groundwater was an attractive alternative to tap water. We cannot allow that," Peni said Friday.

Groundwater depletion in some parts of the city through unchecked exploitation has caused serious land subsidence, increasing the risk of flooding in the rainy season and water shortages in the dry season.

Currently, 3,655 companies have groundwater permits, but the mining agency suspects many more companies are illegally tapping groundwater.

"In 10 years we have seen land subsidence in low-lying areas of between 20 and 180 centimeters ... Kemayoran in Central Jakarta and Mangga Dua in North Jakarta are critical, West Jakarta is the worst affected," Peni said.

Nurmansjah said city tap water company PAM Jaya and its two foreign partners would face a challenge in providing service in high-rise buildings.

"Many companies in high-rises prefer to use groundwater because the technology is less expensive and flexible, while PAM Jaya's pipes have yet to reach up to the top of high-rises," he said.

PAM Jaya director Didit Haryadi said the water companies could supply tap water to high-rises, provided the water supply and pump in the location were in good condition.

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