Water concession no guarantee of equal access to services

Sumber:The Jakarta Post - 07 April 2007
Kategori:Air Minum
City News , Market prices rise rapidly to reflect increased scarcity.

The limited supply of water and the costs associated with processing and the maintenance of the pipes channeling the water to customers are among the reasons why water operators impose rates.

The question is how much should a tap water customer pay?

It is free if they take it directly from the springs uphill, groundwater reserves or even the polluted rivers.

Water is a basic necessity, thus the people's right to access water should be guaranteed and protected by the government.

To guarantee it, the city-owned water operator has imposed fixed rates for the first 10 cubic meters used and progressive prices for further usage.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) standard is a minimum of 20 liters of water per person for daily use of water, including for cooking, drinking, bathing and washing.

The latest data from the government's Working Group for Drinking Water and Sanitation (Pokja AMPL) says that one person living in the city uses 100-120 liters per day on average with many people use piped water to water the garden, wash their car or open a home laundry business.

Pokja AMPL executive Oswar Muadzin Mungkasa said that the average family of four in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta, used 20 cubic meters or more of water each month.

With the current rate of Rp 6,525 per cubic meter, a family with an income of more than Rp 5 million per month could afford to use that much water, despite their complaints of frequent disruption and low water quality.

Customers like these are treasured by water providers, not low-income households that use a maximum of five cubic meters of water per month. The city's two water operator partners are currently focusing on the more prosperous parts of the capital to ensure a swift return on their investment, leaving 88 percent of the urban poor without access to piped water.

The most severe conditions are in coastal areas of North Jakarta. The city's private partners have argued the metal water pipes are corroding due to sea intrusion and are hence impossible to maintain.

Opening new access to densely populated slums is another reason, besides the residents' inability to raise the Rp 1 million connection fee.

In his final year dissertation, presented in August at the University of Indonesia's School of Economics and titled The impact of drinking water investment on economic growth and income distribution in Jakarta, Oswar found that the urban poor in North Jakarta paid almost five times more for clean water compared to people living on the other side of the city.

"Sea intrusion makes it impossible for them to exploit groundwater. Lack of access to piped water leaves them with no other choice but to buy water from vendors," he told The Jakarta Post.

A study on small-scale water providers, funded by the Asian Development Bank, found that the business was dominated by cart vendors in number. The price of 20 liters of water in one jerrican is tagged at between Rp 3,000-5,000 by the vendors. With a total of about Rp 50,000 per cubic meter, to meet their monthly water need of five cubic meters, each household has to spend up to Rp 250,000.

"They spend too much on water. The international standard for water price is only 3 percent of monthly income," Oswar said.

Jakarta's minimum wage hovers at about Rp 1 million.

Alizar Yazid, an expert with the Jakarta Water Regulatory Body, said that a large part of water investment had gone into efforts to minimize leakage and water theft.

"If the problem were solved, we could move on to improving water access for the poor," he told the Post.

Oscar said that, in the meantime, the government was subsidizing the poor through its scheme to offset the fuel price increases, as well as the provision of community wells and public bathrooms.

For "practical reasons", the facilities are situated at the far end of the water connection to ease distribution but far from the targeted slum dwellers. And that is how the money game starts.

Thugs hover around the facilities, imposing fees for those who want to fill their water containers or use the toilets.

Meanwhile, vendors make money delivering water by cart to the slum dwellers.

"As soon as the facilities are built, they are handed over to the locals who operate and maintain them. Imposing fees is understandable, because maintenance requires money.

Unfortunately, there is no further monitoring on how it benefits the poor," Oswar said.
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta



Post Date : 07 April 2007