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Dian Fossey's birthday celebrated with a Google doodle

Dian Fossey's birthday celebrated with a Google doodle

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Clean water luxury for North Jakarta slum dwellers

"After all, it's God's water."

Prodita Sabarini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Ruslan was dusty and dripping with sweat though he had gotten an early start to beat the suffocating Jakarta sun.

The 40-something man stooped over with his hands on his thighs to catch his breath when he arrived at his small house, finally able to stop pulling his cart, which he had loaded up with 20-liter jerricans full of water

"Water is scarce nowadays," he said.

Ruslan lives in slum neighborhood Kampung Kandang in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta. The official map of Jakarta suggests it is unoccupied but satellite photos show otherwise.

While residents have managed to come to terms with shortages of just about everything else, no one can get by without water.

Most houses in his neighborhood are not connected to the water system.

Some people tried to build their own wells but though the water was clear when drawn it soon turned a reddish-brown color. They have no other choice but to buy drinking water from vendors.

Spending an extra Rp 3,000 (less than US$1) does not mean much to the better-off, but for low-wage earners it is a substantial sum.

The United Nations Development Program's (UNDP) 2006 Human Development Report Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis said people living in the slums of Jakarta, Manila and Nairobi paid five to 10 times more for water per unit than those in high-income areas of the same cities.

For Rusland and his neighbors, the fact that they are squatting on state land does not help.

According to Rhames Simanjuntak, a spokesman for one of the city's two water operators, Thames Pam Jaya (TPJ), delivering piped water to slum neighborhoods poses something of a dilemma.

"We have to abide by the regulation on piped water distribution, which requires the home owner to present a house or land ownership deed before we can supply their property."

Rhamses said the city administration prohibited the water company from making any connection between the slums and the domestic water system because the land was state property and not designated for housing.

"However, people living in the slums are constantly stealing water."

He said the area where Ruslan lives was among the three districts -- Rawa Badak, Tugu Selatan, Kelapa Gading Barat -- where TPJ had reported the theft of utility services was widespread.

A resident of Kampung Kandang, who asked not to be named, said fresh water had quickly become big business in the area.

"We don't have any lawful access to water, how can do basic things like take a shower or go to the toilet?"

Ruslan said a few people in the area did have piped water within their dwellings.

"Some of them sell their water to the others."

He said he wished piped water could be brought to everyone in the slum community.

"We're happy to pay monthly, rather than buying jerricans of water daily."

Rhamses said 50 percent of the water distributed by TPJ was not paid for, causing major revenue losses for the company.

The company supplies 9,000 liters of water per second to areas of North and East Jakarta.

He said illegal connections, theft and leakage were responsible for 30 percent of unbilled water consumption.

"The rest is due to malfunctioning distribution system controls like broken meters."

Rhamses said the problem was not cut and dry.

"The city administration can be hypocritical and has on occasion issued identification cards to slum dwellers."

Neighborhood unit head Bawono said the people living there were not illegal residents. "I was sworn in by the district head."

Bawono did, however, acknowledge the land was not theirs. "It belongs to the government."

A resident said he did not understand why people like him were denied access to clean water.

"After all, it's God's water."

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