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Tanah Merah residents bid farewell to expensive vendors
Fun bath: Children of Rawa Sengon, Tanah Merah, North Jakarta, take a bath on Tuesday using clean water channelled to residents through a master meter system
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Fun bath: Children of Rawa Sengon, Tanah Merah, North Jakarta, take a bath on Tuesday using clean water channelled to residents through a master meter system. The system was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Indonesia Urban Water Sanitation and Hygiene program.(JP/PJ Leo) (USAID) through its Indonesia Urban Water Sanitation and Hygiene program.(JP/PJ Leo)
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span class="inline inline-center">Fun bath: Children of Rawa Sengon, Tanah Merah, North Jakarta, take a bath on Tuesday using clean water channelled to residents through a master meter system. The system was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Indonesia Urban Water Sanitation and Hygiene program.(JP/PJ Leo)
Residents of Tanah Merah in North Jakarta have welcomed a supply of clean piped water with joy because now they can bid farewell to expensive water in jerricans and save more money.
The program, provided by the US Agency for International Development's (USAID) Indonesia Urban Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (IUWASH), connected 250 households considered occupying state land illegaly with the service of water operator PT Aetra Air Jakarta.
Yeni Saragih, 62, a grandmother of three, said goodbye to her regular water vendor last week.
'I have bought water from him for 17 years and last week, I said to him that I would not buy water from him anymore as I have piped water now,' she said during the launch of the connection on Tuesday.
Yeni said that although she had a water well in her house, she still relied on the water vendor for clean water. 'I used to buy four 20-liter jerricans of water at Rp 10,000 [73 US cents] per day. I could spend
Rp 25,000 during the dry season when the groundwater depleted,' she said.
She said that she agreed to get the service from the project because the pipe water was cheaper than jerrican water. The residents agreed to pay Rp 14,000 per cubic meter (m3).
What she paid was still higher than what regular Aetra customers paid, but she was happy anyway because with jerricans she would spend at least Rp 300,000 per month. The regular costs for low-to middle-income families are only between Rp 1,050 to Rp 7,450 per m3. The Tanah Merah residents paid Rp 7,500 per m3 to Aetra and the rest is for pipe maintenance.
IUWASH water supply and sanitation specialist Tofikurochman Achmad said the project supplied clean, piped water to underprivileged families who occupied state land without titles. The government labels such families illegal, thus water operators are not allowed to connect them to pipe water.
The program installed a master meter in a legal public spot near the houses with land titles as the water operator is only allowed to provide connection in areas with land titles. The community, with help from IUWASH, installed pipes from the master meter to their houses.
Yeni said besides being cheaper, the service was also expected to give her reliable supply even during the dry season, when she usually experienced hardship. 'The groundwater recedes while the water vendors are overwhelmed with orders. Sometimes, we cannot get the water immediately,' she said.
Yeni said she believed that the pipe water was cleaner. 'When I took a bath with ground water, I did not feel clean. However, although we use a smaller amount of pipe water, we feel clean,' she said.
Syri Anhar, a 38-year-old security guard, was also happy with the service that he had enjoyed for two weeks. 'Since having the piped water, I love watering my plants,' he said.
Syri said he could not do it before as he should be thrifty with water, especially during dry season. 'During dry season, we have to be satisfied with bathing with only one bucket of water,' he said.
The connection to 250 houses in Tanah Merah is the fourth project of IUWASH, cooperating with city-owned water operator PD PAM Jaya and Aetra.
'Besides Tanah Merah, other areas include Cilincing and Pulogebang in East Jakarta; and Rawa Buaya in West Jakarta,' Tofikurochman said.
'The cost of the installation is around Rp 4 million to Rp 5 million per household,' he said, adding that the connection from the main pipe to the master meter was funded by PAM Jaya and Aetra.
Tofikurochman said the higher price was because of other components like the honorarium of the community-based organization members who were elected by the residents and collected the fees, electricity bills and emergency funds.
The specialist said that the major problem of the project was the tough negotiation with water vendors, who saw the project would harm their business. 'Some of the residents who hold land titles install pipe water and sell the water,' he said.
After months of negotiation, the water vendors finally relented, he said.
