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Gerindra urges Anies to stop water privatization in Jakarta
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A protester pours water over himself during a rally organized to urge Jakarta Governor Anies to stop water privatization, in line with a Supreme Court ruling. The rally took place in front of Jakarta's City Hall on Thursday. (JP/Ivany Atina Arbi)
T
he Jakarta Council’s Gerindra Party faction, which supported Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno during the city's last gubernatorial election, has called on the capital‘s leaders to end water privatization.
Gerindra, along with the council’s NasDem Party faction, said the move was in line with a Supreme Court ruling.
During a meeting on the mid-term regional development plan (RPJMD) on Monday, the factions demanded that the administration cut city-owned water company PT PAM Jaya’s ties with PT Aetra Air Jakarta and PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja), two privately run water companies assigned to supply tap water to Jakarta's residents.
Read also: EDITORIAL: Water for all in Jakarta
"We ask the governor to execute the court ruling on water management in Jakarta," Gerindra faction secretary Fajar Sidik read out the faction's recommendation as quoted by kompas.com.
The faction also demanded that the administration begin to realize its plan to improve the coverage of tap water, particularly to residents in North Jakarta, where they were struggling to obtain clean water.
NasDem faction speaker Bestari Barus said many residents did not have access to clean water.
"Based on the available data, less than 50 percent of Jakarta residents enjoy access to clean water because the administration has not been focused on providing a clean water supply," he said.
He said the issues needed to be tackled immediately to minimize the use of groundwater, which exacerbated the land subsidence problem in Jakarta. (evi)
