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Rain catcher village in North Jakarta feels pinch of dry spell
The homemade system has been the main source of clean water the residents have used for their daily needs for years.
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Local resident Khomariah, 49, checks the pipe used to collect rainwater next to her house in a fishing village in Kamal Muara, Penjaringan, North Jakarta, on July 13. (JP/Donny Fernando)
F
or as long as the residents of the fishing village in Kamal Muara, North Jakarta remember, they have always relied on rainwater for their daily needs. A network of pipes that start at funnels on house rooftops to collect raindrops to store the water in blue plastic barrels.
The homemade system has been the main source of clean water the residents have used for their daily needs for years, which gave their community a special moniker: the "rain catcher village".
However, the barrels in their yards have been running empty these past two months. No drops of water touch the bottom of them since the dry season hit some areas in the capital since May.
Similar to other parts of Jakarta, under normal circumstances rain likely brings disaster to the village as it is no stranger to widespread flooding and the rate of land subsidence is among the highest in the city. Residents often have to flee as their houses are located near a sea dike that submerges during floods.
However, as the dry season is causing a clean water shortage, more than 2,000 mostly underprivileged fishing families are yearning for rain to fill up their empty barrels.
Over the past two months, when rains have never come, they have had no other choice but to buy water from vendors. The neighborhood does not have access to a clean water service as the city-owned tap water company, PAM Jaya, has yet to build pipelines there.
A resident, Rahmi Ile, places eight 55-liter barrels in front of her two-story house. When it rains, she opens the lids and the recaps them when the rain stops. Now, they are all empty.
