The Jakarta administration is striving to expand the city’s tap water coverage from the current 62 percent throughout the capital to 82 percent by 2023 amid persistently sluggish progress in coverage expansion. The figure is in line with the target set in cooperation agreements signed by city-owned tap water company PAM Jaya and two private companies, PT PAM Lyonnaise Jakarta (Palyja) and PT Aetra Air Jakarta (Aetra). The cooperation started in 1997 and ends in 2023. The lack of improvement in tap water management has long been criticized, with the increase in tap water coverage being less than 20 percent from 44.5 percent in 1998. Despite missing the target, PAM Jaya president director Priyatno Bambang Hernowo expressed optimism that the company would meet the target as long as key aspects were addressed in a timely manner. He cited raw water supplies and non-revenue wate...