T

he Thousands Islands regency is gearing up to improve its clean water supply, to support the region'€™s tourist industry.

Regent Asep Syarifudin said an adequate supply of clean water must be secured because a number of investors had requested permits to invest in the islands'€™ tourist industry.

'€œAn investor is keen to build a six-story hotel worth Rp 800 billion [US$69 million] on Bidadari Island, but I will probably only approve a three-story building. We are still analyzing the strength of the land and other environmental aspects,'€ he said recently.

He said that investors were also interested in Pari Island and nearby Kudus Island. According to Asep, a domestic investor is in the process of securing a permit to build a Rp 200 billion resort in the middle of the sea off Kudus Island, while another reportedly wants to build a three-story hotel worth Rp 300 billion on Pari Island, an adjacent islet that already has some bungalows.

Asep was upbeat that the hospitality industry'€™s growth would have a multi-player effect on the regency. As part of securing necessary permits, Asep said he required investors to sign an agreement stating they would set aside 60 percent of jobs relating to their projects for local workers.

He said the regency'€™s failure to guarantee a clean water supply, however, could affect investment opportunities.

The regency is now cooperating with city-owned water company PAM Jaya to provide a reverse osmosis facility on Untung Jawa Island, which is expected to supply clean water to neighboring islands.

Reverse osmosis technology produces clean water by processing seawater through plastic membranes with microscopic pores. The membranes extract dissolved salts, while excess silt is removed with chemicals.

PAM Jaya director Sri Widayanto Kaderi said the desalination project was a joint investment between PAM Jaya and the Public Works Ministry, worth around Rp 10 billion.

'€œThe Public Works Ministry is responsible for the installation of the water treatment, while we are [responsible] for the piping and networking,'€ Sri told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Tuesday.

Sri said the water treatment facility on Untung Jawa Island was still a pilot project. He said PAM Jaya would assess whether the technology would need to be installed on every island. Another option could be expanding the initial facility on Untung Jawa Island and distributing water to other islands with a tanker ship.

He said water produced by the facility would be potable. Although the price of the water has not yet been officially announced, Sri estimated that the lowest price, for residents in the low-income bracket, would be Rp 10,000 per cubic meter.

'€œThe price will be more expensive than for piped water on the mainland, in Jakarta, but it should be acceptable because the situation on the mainland and the islands is different,'€ he said.

'€œI am sure the price of water from our facility will still be cheaper than the current price of clean water brought from North Jakarta and sold in the regency,'€ he added.

He said the company would apply a cross-subsidy between low-income earners and the regency'€™s big businesses, such as resorts.

The islanders will then have to accept the cost of the water as the city administration has no plans to provide a subsidy.

'€œThe tariff is reasonable compared to the expensive water they have to buy from mobile water sellers, which can reach Rp 25,000 [per cubic meter]. We have surveyed their economic power and we are sure they can afford the tariff,'€ Deputy Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

He said the tariff, which is higher than the lowest water tariff in Jakarta, would also encourage residents of the Thousand Islands to use water efficiently.