Indonesia, Jakarta: struggling to provide clean water to all
October 13, 2010
The city of Jakarta, with a population of nine million people, is struggling to provide clean water to all its residents. In some poor neighbourhoods international organisations like Mercy Corps and its Communal Master Meter project (small community-managed piped water system), are trying to help. However, their impact is minimal because the infrastructure problems are so complex and expensive to fix.
Water flowing from an open tap is a luxury for only a few people in Penjaringan, one of Jakarta’s densest neighbourhoods. The French-run PT Palyja, one of two private companies that control Jakarta’s water supply, provides only a communal tank for the local residents to use. Even the smallest daily activity, like brushing one’s teeth, requires a trip to the tank, where people pay a large portion of their meagre salaries for containers of cloudy, brackish water. The local "water mafia" in cahoots with corrupt water company workers is exploiting the situation by selling clean water to residents from their own illegal house connections.
But in 2008 life changed for about 55 families in Penjaringan when the international aid organisation Mercy Corps installed a separate tank and ran water lines to households able to pay the US$ 20 start-up fee.
Interesting observations on the organisation and benefits of the Master Meter per 60 households are made in a Voice of America video (below) and article. This includes quotes from someone from Jakarta’s water regulatory body.
Video : Jakarta struggles
Jakarta's water problems
Source; Klik
