The announcement comes despite BP Batam’s previous pledge to return the city’s drinking water system into public hands, in compliance with Law No. 17/2019 that stipulates that the government should take a more active role in providing drinking water to the public. Returning privatized water services to municipal authorities is referred to as “remunicipalization”.

The handover was made official during a signing ceremony between BP Batam and Moya at BP Batam headquarters on Sept. 14, attended by BP Batam head Muhammad Rudi and Moya CEO Mohamad Selim.

Moya Indonesia is part of Moya Holdings Asia, which is controlled by Singapore-based Tamaris Infrastructure. According to a report in The Straits Times, billionaire Anthoni Salim controls Tamaris.

Moya Indonesia operates the tap water services of eight cities in Indonesia, including part of Jakarta through Acuatico Group, which holds 95 percent of shares in PT Aetra Air Jakarta.

Muhammad Rudi, who is also the mayor of Batam, said that even though ATB’s contract ended on Nov. 14, BP Batam had already taken steps to take control of drinking water services.

“Six months before the contract ends, we [BP Batam] have to determine who will operate Batam’s drinking water system, so we held a tender to determine who should do so,” Rudi said on Sept. 14.

He said four companies stood out in the tender: PT PP Infrastruktur, Moya, ATB and PT Suez Water Treatment Indonesia.

He said that, in BP Batam’s evaluation of the bidding companies, Moya achieved the highest score and was chosen to operate the city’s drinking water system from Nov. 15, 2020, until May 15, 2021.

“After six months, we will hold another tender [on who will operate the city’s drinking water system] for 25 years, or until 2046. We expect that by 2021 the bidding could start, and anyone can participate, even ATB,” Rudi said.

He expressed hope that no problems would arise in the handover to Moya, adding that ATB’s employees that wanted to continue their employment by joining Moya and BP Batam could do so without having to pass a recruitment test. 

Meanwhile, Moya Indonesia CEO Mohamad Selim said the company was committed to operating the drinking water system in accordance with BP Batam’s expectations.

“We will provide the best services for residents, because we have experience [in the field],” Selim said.

According to ATB’s data, it only had 20,348 customers out of a total 247,958 residents in the city in 1996. Today, with a population of 1,376,009 people, 289,815 residents of Batam are tap water customers.

ATB is partly owned by PT Bangun Cipta Kontraktor, which is owned by Siswono Yudo Husono, who served as a government minister during the New Order era. The other owner is Singapore-based Sembawang Corporation.

Suyono Saputro, an economics lecturer at Batam International University, criticized the transfer, saying BP Batam should operate the city’s water systems independently by forming its own business unit.

“With the current BP Batam head also being the Batam mayor, it should have been possible to run the drinking water system through a city-owned company. That way, the drinking water system would be managed by the government instead of a private company, so it would be more affordable,” Suyono said.

Meanwhile, Riau Islands Legislative Council Commission 3 member Yudi Kurnain said the tender by BP Batam to choose the city’s drinking water system operator was in violation of the Regional Administration Law.

“Drinking water systems are under the authority of regional leaders [governors or regents/mayors], not the head of Batam BP. A private company’s technical role should have been limited, because BP Batam only needs to continue the drinking water system that has been built by a private company for 25 years, instead of handing it over to another private company,” Yudi said.

Separately, ATB president director Benny Adrianto claimed that the transfer had not been transparent and fair and that the firm had filed a report with the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU).

“We have also reported this to the Indonesian National Arbitration Body about the end of our concession [with Batam city],” he said. (ami)

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