City delays operation of major water plant

The city administration said on Monday that it may have to delay the operation of a new water processing plant in Bekasi, West Java.

M. Tauchid Cakra Amidjaya, the city’s deputy for development and environment, said the project would not be finished until 2014, a two-year delay from the original plan. He blamed a sluggish pace of construction work handled by the central government for the delay.

“We are proposing to help the central government in expediting its delivery,” Tauchid said.

The project, estimated to cost Rp 3 trillion (US$339 million), will construct a 70 kilometer underground pipeline to deliver water from the Jati Luhur dam in West Java to a water treatment plant in Buaran, Bekasi. The plant is expected to process 5,000 liters of clean water per second.

“We will achieve more if the city and the central government join hands,” Tauchid said. — JP