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AKARTA: Activists protested Monday at City Hall, calling for an end to water privatization in Jakarta.

“Privatization has caused losses to the city-owned water operator PD PAM Jaya and severely limited the access of the Jakarta poor to clean water,” said Muhammad Reza of the People’s Coalition Against Water Privatization on Monday.

The current contract between city-owned public utility PD PAM Jaya and two private operators, PAM Lyonnaise Jaya
and PT Aetra Air Jakarta, has lasted for 13 years and will expire in 2025.

Reza said that as a result of the privatization, Jakartans now had to pay high rates, an average of around Rp 7,000 (82 US cents) per cubic-meter, forcing poor families to set aside between Rp 400,000 and Rp 500,000 per month for clean water. — JP