2005 - 2006 - Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2012

[6] Connecting a squatter settlement in Jakarta
28
PART 1: 2005-2006 OVERVIEW
Water and sewerage services in Jakarta are administered by Persuahaan Air Minuum Dki
Jakarta (Pam Jaya), which in turn awarded two 25 year water supply concessions to RWE
Thames Water (East Jakarta) and Suez (West Jakarta) in 1997. In 1993, 30% of the population
received water supplies directly from Pam Jaya and 16% via public taps. Private wells and
vendors supply the rest of the population. Under the 1997 privatisation plans, connections were
set to rise to 70% by 2002, with all supplied by 2022.
To date, RWE Thames Water (Germany / UK) has invested US$ 50 million in the East Jakarta
concession. However, water delivery in terms of quality and quantity appears to have failed to
improve in the intended manner. This is partly due to the poor quality of water available to the
concession companies and in part because of financial constraints imposed by inflation since
1997, along with the effects of the Asian financial crisis in 1998. By 2002, there were still
approximately 40,000 illegal connections, due to water connections being provided by corrupt
staff. Distribution losses decreased from 60% in 1997 to 42% by November 2003, while the
number of connections had increased from 268,000 to 346,500, a connection rate of 63%.
23% of people living in the city are officially classified as poor. Since 1997, the emphasis as
been on replacing public taps with private household connections. In 2002, 39.7% of the
population (classified as non poor) were served with water against 36.9% being unserved.
12.5% of the population (classified as poor) were served with water against 10.7% being
unserved. In effect, service provision has become equal. The service provision figures below
are for the whole of Jakarta.
Number of connections 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Public taps 1,568 1,576 1,616 1,597 1,617
Household connections 29,958 41,258 45,916 59,227 71,671
Water supply is particularly poor for the people that live in 'kampongs', Jakarta’s squatter
settlements. Marunda is a kampong where 11,898 people were forced to re-locate to a site in
north-east Jakarta in 1984 when they were evicted from their original homes to make way for a
new port. Water was only available from vendors or from water tankers. In April 1999, Thames
Water Pam Jaya began a £60,000 project to bring piped water to the people of Marunda. The
project has been based on working with local people so that it would be best suited to the needs
of Marunda and could gain the trust and support of its residents. As a result, 2,000 local people
have been working on the project alongside 10 staff from Thames Water UK. By July 2000,
1,600 houses in Marunda were connected to Jakarta's main water supply. This enabled
residents to have water piped directly into their homes at Rp 995-1,275/m³ (10-13 pence per
1,000 litres), the cost of the water being subsidised via the overall concession. Previously, water
cost Rp 33,300/m³ from private street vendors.
Sources:
Surjadi, C (2003) Drinking water concessions: A study for better understanding public-private partnerships and water
provision in low-income settlements. WEDC, Loughborough University, UK
Aglionby, J (2003) Just add water. Society Guardian, 17th November 2003
Thames Water web site (www.thames-water.com) accessed 27th July 2005
Anwar A (2003) Regulating service for the poor, Jakarta, Indonesia. Paper at the PPCPP Session, 3rd World Water
Forum, Osaka, 19th March 2003
Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2005-2006