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Jakartans deprived of right to clean water
In the pipeline: A worker checks pipes at a water service provider PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya water treatment plant in Jakarta
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In the pipeline: A worker checks pipes at a water service provider PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya water treatment plant in Jakarta. (JP)
Access to clean water remains elusive for many Jakartans — even for those covered by the tap water service — with some residents complaining about having to use stinking, turbid and wormy tap water for daily activities.
A case in point is a complaint by residents on Jl. Gotong Raya in the Kapuk subdistrict of Cengkareng, West Jakarta.
One of the residents, who wanted to be identified only as N, told The Jakarta Post on Friday that she had found tiny red worms on the bottom of a bucket from her tap water. After the incident, she decided to cover the faucet with cloth to filter the water.
“Usually, the problem with the tap water here is its odor and turbidity, but several times it turned out to contain tiny worms,” she said.
Fortunately, the worms did not appear anymore in the last few days, she said.
Despite the contamination, N keeps using the roughly filtered tap water, not only for household purposes, such as laundry and showering, but also for cooking.
Her neighbor, A, had the same problem, but unlike N, she and her family stopped using tap water for cooking after the finding.
Another neighbor, O, considered himself “lucky” to never have found worms in his tap water, but he said it had been smelly and turbid for a long time. Hence, he only uses the water for laundry and showering.
The appearance of tiny red worms in the tap water, likely the tubifex worm, indicates a leakage in the water distribution system, according to University of Indonesia water expert Firdaus Ali.
“Water from the outlet of a water treatment plant meets drinking water quality standard. Our problem is always with the distribution system, [namely] improper installation and the aging of pipes, resulting in leakage,” he said. “The contaminated groundwater enters the leaking pipe when the pressure [in the water pipe] is low.”
As the contaminated groundwater may have a high content of organic matter and pathogens, Firdaus recommended that people not use tap water for eating and drinking. It is therefore requisite to boil the water first prior to using it for dishwashing.
The incident came as the Jakarta administration is working to take over clean water management in the capital city.
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said on Feb. 11 that he aimed to take over the water services predominantly managed by two private companies, PT Aetra Air and PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja), through a civil suit.
Asked about the contamination reported by residents, Palyja president director Robert Rerimassie declined to comment on the matter and referred the Post to Palyja spokeswoman Lydia Astriningworo, who said on Saturday that the firm was following up the issue.
Anies said the takeover was very important to “correct” the 1997 agreement between Indonesia and the private firms because of the sluggish increase in tap water coverage from 44.5 percent in 1998 to 59.4 percent in 2017. That leaves much work to be done to reach the targeted coverage of 82 percent by 2023.
City-owned water operator PAM Jaya has been tasked with finishing a heads of agreement (HoA) with the private firms on returning the water concession.
PAM Jaya signed a HoA with Aetra on April 12, while an agreement with Palyja has not been reached, prompting Anies to lash out at Palyja for ‘acting uncooperatively’.
The HoA with Aetra, meanwhile, has caught the attention of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
After the city’s Water Management Team presented its view on the HoA before the KPK in a hearing on May 10, KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah said in a written statement on Wednesday that the meeting had brought up some issues regarding Jakarta’s water privatization plan.
“The KPK has put the spotlight on a clause in the HoA [with Aetra] that potentially raises legal concern, especially the exclusivity of Aetra in managing the raw water to clean water supply in Jakarta. The clause has yet to reflect efforts for complete remunicipalisation by the city administration,” he said.
The privatized tap water management has resulted in a Rp 1.2 trillion (US$84.2 million) loss for PAM Jaya as of December 2016, according to the hearing. The private companies, on the other hand, recorded Rp 4.3 trillion in total profit.
One of the problems seen to be underlying this apparent contradiction are burdensome clauses stated in the 1997 contract, such as one stipulating a 22 percent internal rate of return and the city’s obligation to cover any shortfall for the private companies.
“The profit gained by the private firms is deemed contrary to their performance, tap water coverage and water supply for Jakarta,” Febri said.
