T

housands of people living on Belakang Padang Island in Riau Islands are looking forward to an end to their long-standing clean-water shortage after construction began on Monday of the island'€™s first desalination facility.

The commencement of the project, worth Rp 13.5 billion (US$960,000), was marked by a ground-breaking ceremony jointly led by the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry'€™s drinking water treatment system (SPAM) development director, Mochammad Natsir, and Batam Mayor Ahmad Dahlan in Belakang Padang.

Natsir said the limited availability of water resources had become a crucial issue in the provision and distribution of clean water in many areas of Indonesia, including Belakang Padang, located off Batam, the province'€™s biggest city.

'€œConsequently, the government is making further efforts to meet the water demand of people in such areas, among them by building sea water reverse osmosis [SWRO] desalination facilities. The project deserves the support of the community,'€ said Natsir.

Belakang Padang, home to 1,250 families, is a district in the Batam municipality. Geographically, the district is part of an island chain of 131 islands, only 47 of which are inhabited.

The island is situated about 30 kilometers from Singapore and about 5.5 km from Batam.

Islanders have up to now depended on the rain and water distribution from Batam to meet their daily needs.

The ministry, according to Natsir, hopes to complete the construction of the SWRO facility on the island within a year.

The local tap-water company, he added, would later distribute clean water produced by the facility, with each resident receiving around 30 liters water daily.

Each family will pay Rp 25,000 for every cubic meter of water.

Mayor Ahmad said it had taken three years for the municipality and the ministry to realize the project.

'€œThe price of water will be relatively higher than in Batam because the equipment is propelled by a generator due to the absence of power from state power company PLN. The price will drop when the desalination plant starts using power from PLN,'€ he said.

Ahmad, who has been Batam mayor since 2005, said he was pleased the project could finally be launched before he left office later this year.

'€œBelakang Padang Island is the city that was the forerunner of Batam Island and the first district in Batam. It housed the first administrative offices before Batam was developed as it is now,'€ Dahlan said, explaining the historical importance of the island.

Island resident Ripno, 34, expressed deep appreciation for the project.

'€œWe are very pleased and hope the project will be completed and operate soon,'€ he said.

The government is aiming to increase access to drinking water nationwide to 100 percent by 2019 as stipulated in the National Mid-Term Development Plan (RPJMN), from around 67.03 percent in 2013.

It expects to increase it to 73 percent in 2016.