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Tangerang residents help themselves to tap water amid power outage
A major blackout since Sunday has prompted residents of Tangerang, Banten, to siphon off water from the city-owned water company.
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Water vendors fill their cans at the water pool in the Pasar Baru area of Jakarta on Feb. 7. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
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esidents in Gondrong, Cipondoh, Tangerang, Banten, have illegally tapped water supply lines of city-owned tap water company PDAM Tirta Benteng arguing they were in experiencing a water crisis because of the continued power outage on Monday.
The blackout that began Sunday caused difficulties for residents to obtain clean water.
Television news showed residents opened a faucet at the end of a water pipe owned by the company and attach a hose to easily fill the water into their bottles.
Footage showed people lining up to get water from the pipe.
PDAM Tirta Benteng spokesman Ikhsan Sodikin said the firm was are of the illegal conduct but allowed the situation on the grounds that people were badly affected by the power outage.
“There will not be a problem for the company. We will let residents take the water that way,” he said on Monday.
PDAM would later check and repair the pressure kit of the pipes, which might be affected by the water incident.
The company has also deployed two 4,000-liter water tanks to distribute water to Cipondoh residents on Monday morning, Antara news agency reported.
He advised residents in need of water to submit requests to the company through its subdistrict or district offices.
Ikhsan said PDAM would cooperate with the environment and parks agency to deploy more water tanks. (sau)
