A water crisis has hit Kupang and other areas in East Nusa Tenggara, forcing residents to buy clean water for their daily needs, or consume water that contains lime particles.
People, who mostly use groundwater, have been complaining about the sharp drop in water levels since early last month; some wells have even dried up.
In Oebobo district, many residents buy clean water, sold for between Rp 125,000 (US$13) and Rp 200,000 per container, which hold 4,000 and 5,000 liters of water respectively.
Alak district has also been hard-hit. Home to about 5,000 people, the district only has one public artesian well which provides clean water. The government has repeatedly promised to provide clean water facilities, but they have never materialized.
Intan, one of the residents, said that she had to queue for hours to get water.
“Sometimes, our children have to play truant because there is no water to wash themselves,” she said, adding that she had to buy mineral water every day.
The local office of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency claims the water crisis in Kupang and other areas is caused by the El Nino weather phenomena.
Kupang mayor Daniel Adoe said the government would drill at least 200 artesian wells to cope with the water crisis.
Head of the provincial Public Works Agency Andre W Koreh said he had asked the central government for between Rp 10 billion and Rp 20 billion from next year’s national budget to improve the piped water networks and water distribution in Kupang.
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