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Experts laud merger of tap water, wastewater firms
Experts have hailed the city administrationâs plan to merge city wastewater management firm PD PAL Jaya and water operator PD PAM Jaya as a step toward better water management in the city
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xperts have hailed the city administration's plan to merge city wastewater management firm PD PAL Jaya and water operator PD PAM Jaya as a step toward better water management in the city.
The Jakarta administration recently announced that it would merge the two firms to improve the management of both clean water and wastewater in the city. Urban water spatial planner Prathiwi Widyatmi Putri lauded the plan, saying that it was the right step to ensure efficiency in water management.
'From a business management perspective, this merger is the best step,' Prathiwi told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
However, she pointed out that the city administration should also strengthen the Water Management Agency as a policymaker in the water sector to reinforce wastewater treatment. Prathiwi said the agency should oblige all commercial and real estate developers to build wastewater treatment plants.
'The city administration must also enforce a tough policy to require not only individual homeowners but also commercial and real estate developers to install wastewater treatment pipes. Without such a policy, it would be difficult for the city administration to improve wastewater management,' she said.
She added that the city should push commercial and real estate developers first and individual homeowners later.
Separately, water expert Firdaus Ali also lauded the step, despite it being '40 years late'.
'The merger is absolutely compulsory, and many experts have urged the city administration to carry out the merger since Sutiyoso was governor,' Firdaus told reporters on the sidelines of a discussion on the merger at a hotel in Central Jakarta recently.
He said that with the merger, the city administration could more easily install sewerage pipes in neighborhoods and commercial buildings to recycle wastewater.
Firdaus pointed out that Jakarta's rivers were too polluted to be used as a source of water for consumption and domestic use. Meanwhile, he said, water supply from Jatiluhur Dam in West Java was limited as other areas also needed supplies from the dam.
'This step is more than 40 years late, but it's better late than never,' he said.
Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama said that although PAM Jaya and PAL Jaya had their own tasks, merging the two would be effective in terms of processing the city's wastewater into reusable domestic water.
'Our decision is final; PAM Jaya and PAL Jaya will be merged. No matter how big lakes and rivers are, if we do not recycle our water, the sources of water will dry up,' Ahok said at the same occasion.
According to data from the city administration, service coverage for clean water in Jakarta was up to 60 percent, while wastewater treatment was only 4 percent. He said a lack of integration between the two services had resulted in low wastewater management.
'Almost all wastewater in Jakarta is channeled into the sea instead of being processed into reusable water for domestic use,' Ahok said.
He pointed out that it would take more than 10 years as well as trillions of rupiah of investment for Jakarta to be able to manage and recycle 100 percent of wastewater produced by residents. However, he said, such an investment was necessary in order to fulfill the city's target of processing all wastewater into reusable domestic water.
'With the merger, hopefully the city administration can better manage water, both clean water and wastewater. We aim to have the merger take place by the end of the year,' Ahok said.
