Unpaid water bills amount to Rp 466b

Indah Setiawati ,  The Jakarta Post ,  JAKARTA   |  Sat, 07/04/2009 11:13 AM  |  City

City-owned water operator PAM Jaya reported Friday its partners, Palyja and Aetra, still had Rp 466 billion (US$45.5 million) in unpaid bills for the last eight years.

“They’re not strict enough. As a result, there is a high claim rate during the last eight years,” Hariadi Priyohutomo, PAM Jaya director, said as quoted by beritajakarta.com.

Data from the company shows 20 percent of PT Aetra Air Jakarta’s 381,027 customers had not paid their bills, totaling Rp 257 billion, from March 2001 to April 2009.

It also showed 25 percent of PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya’s 405,287 customers had unpaid bills amounting to Rp 209 billion.

Hariadi said if the unpaid bills were claimed, there would be no need to increase water rates, which was currently being proposed by one of the two private water operators, Palyja.

He added there was room for improvement in both companies’ collection system. In the past, Hariadi went on, when PAM Jaya was still fully public, the company implemented an incentive system for collections officers who managed to reach the collection target.

He added such measures could help reduce the amount of outstanding bills.

Last December, Palyja proposed an average increase of 22.7 percent over the next four years in water rates, to fund investments that would improve water distribution in the company’s operating area.

The company will invest Rp 853 billion (US$78 million) to improve distribution. Of that, Rp 200 billion is earmarked for 2009 and will be used to replace old water pipes and perform production maintenance.

The city is still discussing the possible increase with the Water Regulatory Body. But Governor Fauzi Bowo has pledged there will be no rate increase for low-income households, which are currently charged Rp 1,050 (1 US cent) per cubic meter of water.

Aetra’s corporate affairs senior manager, Yosua L. Tobing, denied PAM Jaya’s data, saying that according to the company’s 2008 audited financial report, the value of customers’ outstanding bills was only Rp 125 billion.

“It’s different from PAM Jaya’s figure. Maybe they included bills that are currently running or counted bills of customers who pay not on a monthly basis,” he said.

Yosua pointed out the Indonesian Military office’s bill, which was centralized and paid for by the Finance Ministry every three months.

He added his company took measures to get the bills paid, including temporarily cutting off water, as well as taking a legal action.

In May, the company sued five former customers who owed them a total of Rp 200 million. The case is being tried at the East Jakarta District Court. In a press release made available recently, Aetra said it had filed the suit after they ignored warning letters sent three times.

Palyja corporate communications head Meyritha Maryanie said her company had a program to collect customers’ payments as regulated in a 1993 city bylaw.

“If the bills are not paid on time, we cut off the water,” she said, adding she could not confirm the figures from PAM Jaya.

PAM Jaya appointed Palyja and Aetra to handle the city’s water distribution in 1998. Palyja distributes water to the western part of the city, while Aetra the eastern.

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