Residents protest waste plan

The Jakarta Post, Depok | Tue, 12/30/2008 11:02 AM 

 

The Depok administration's efforts to tackle the regency's waste problems by setting up waste-processing units (UPS) in residential areas have hit upon a stumbling block after hundreds of residents objected to the project.

 

Residents of Bukit Rivaria in Sawangan, Depok, protested against the construction of a UPS in their neighborhood, saying the administration had failed to consult with them on the matter, thus violating a 2008 law on waste management.

 

"We basically support the program, but there was no dialogue held with the residents before the administration set up the UPS in our neighborhood," Totok Towel, a resident, said recently.

 

The UPS is a 30-meter by 40-meter composting plant that also recycles inorganic waste from residential areas. Each unit can process 40 cubic meters of waste per day.

 

Totok said the UPS was located only 40 meters away from the nearest resident's home, adding the amount of waste produced daily by the residents was only 4 to 7 cubic meters.

 

"We are worried that trash from outside our area will be brought in to meet the UPS' processing capacity, thus piling up and ruining the beauty of our parks; moreover, it will jeopardize the health of residents," he said.

 

He added social problems could arise if trash pickers began flocking to the neighborhood to look for waste, disrupting the area's security in the process.

 

According to an environmental impact analysis, the project must be located at least a kilometer from residential areas, Totok added.

 

"The developers are also responsible for this mess, because they told us they were building a public facility here for the residents, but it's turned out to be a garbage dump," he said.

 

"We are not going anywhere if the UPS begins operating, because we can't afford to look for new homes," he said.

 

Fuad, head of the Rivaria residents community group (Iwari), said the residents had taken up the issue with the mayor's office and held three demonstrations to get the administration and developers to move the UPS elsewhere.

 

"If that doesn't work, we'll take this matter to court," he said.

 

He also said the developer had agreed to meet the residents' demands.

 

Around 1,000 families live in the area that could be affected by the problems caused by the UPS, he added.

 

Yusmanto, head of the Depok Sanitation and Environmental Agency's facility division, said the regency's landfill in Citayam was reaching overcapacity, thus making the construction of 60 UPS in residential areas crucial.

 

"The 10.6-hectare Citayam landfill must take around 4.2 million kilograms of trash per day, and it can't take that much longer. Therefore we need the UPS to lessen the burden on the landfill," he said.

 

He added the administration had met with community unit heads from Bukit Rivaria on Nov. 21 at the subdistrict office to discuss the UPS project.

 

"The reason we set up the UPS in residential areas is because the concept of the UPS is to recycle trash from households straight away," he said, adding it was for residents' own good.

 

Yusmanto also said residents had misidentified the UPS as a landfill, saying they should not worry about potential trash heaps because the UPS would not recycle more trash than the community could produce.

 

He added the waste would immediately be put in grinders and made into compost, which the residents could then use.

 

The administration will continue with the project, he went on, following the success of a pilot project. The first phase is expected to be complete by the end of the year.

 

"Our UPS pilot project in Sukatani village, Depok, has proven successful in reducing trash and helping the environment, without any residents complaining," Yusmanto said.

 

He added there were four stages in the UPS project under the regency's midterm plan. The first stage is the building of 20 UPS this year, 10 more next year, and another 30 within the next two years. The project will cost the regency an estimated Rp 17 billion (US$ 1.5 million).

State infrastructure projects to boost WIKA's earnings next year

Alfian, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 12/30/2008 11:02 AM  

State-owned construction firm PT Wijaya Karya (WIKA) expects a 15.63 percent jump in revenue in 2009 after a pledge by the government to spend huge state funds next year on infrastructure projects. 

In a statement Sunday, WIKA forecast its 2009 revenue would rise to Rp 7.4 trillion (US$669 million) from about Rp 6.4 trillion this year, while net profit for 2009 is forecast to rise to Rp 175 billion, up by 21.5 percent on the Rp 144 billion forecast for the end of 2008. 

WIKA finance director Ganda Kusuma said the company was fully aware of the unfavorable conditions for next year's business, but remained optimistic it would enjoy substantial growth due to government-sponsored infrastructure projects. 

"The company will focus on government projects (next year) both from the central and regional governments. We will also focus our efforts on securing our liquidity," Ganda said. 

As of November this year, WIKA had secured multi-annual contracts valued at a total of Rp 14.31 trillion. 

The company expects to win five more construction projects with a total value of Rp 883.25 billion by the end of December. 

These projects include part of the work on a 700 megawatt power plant in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta including a contract worth Rp 340 billion; a high school building worth Rp 65.89 billion and a sports center worth Rp 118.59 billion in Kuantan Sengingi, Riau Province. 

Other projects include a dam in Tembesi, Riau Islands Province valued at Rp 224.05 billion and a flood canal project for the Ciliwung and Cisadane rivers in West Java worth Rp 883.25 billion. 

WIKA said it would get more revenue next year because of several ongoing power plant projects which were multi-annual projects scheduled to be completed in 2010. 

The power plant projects and other infrastructure projects would contribute substantially to the company's revenue this year and in the next few years. 

The government has allocated a budget of Rp 34.98 trillion for the public works ministry next year. 

WIKA is also looking at projects from state companies, especially from state power company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) which is in the process of completing the construction of a power plant program totaling 10,000 megawatts of electrical capacity under the government's accelerated power

Indonesia to implement Wimax broadband in 2009

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 12/28/2008 6:59 PM  

Indonesia will implement Wimax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) broadband technology next year to improve access to the Internet across the country, an official said Sunday. 

Engkos Koswara, an expert adviser to the state minister for research and technology, told Antara news agency the government was still testing the 2.3 GHz frequency for the Wimax technology. 

"We hope that by next year, Wimax technology will be implemented," he said in Medan, North Sumatra, adding the government would encourage the use of domestic products to support the technology. 

Indonesia ranks very low in the region in the use of broadband for Internet access. 

Engkos was in Medan to attend the promotion of IGOS (Indonesia Goes Open Source) and the launching of IGOS for North Sumatra (IGOS Sumut).

IGOS, launched in 2004, was launched to promote the use of open source software throughout the country. 

Chinese Vice premier meets acting governor of Jawa Timur, visits Suramadu bridge project

www.chinaview.cn, 2008-12-21 20:02:42           

SURABAYA, Indonesia, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang met here with the acting governor of Jawa Timur Setia Purwaka and visited the construction site of Suramadu bridge in Indonesia.

Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang (C front) applauds as he visits the construction site of the Suramadu ( Surabaya-Madura) bridge, which will be the longest of its kind, in Indonesia, Dec. 21, 2008. (Xinhua Photo).
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During his meeting with Purwaka on Saturday evening, Li voiced his hope that Jawa Timur could play an increasingly important role to help step up relations between China and Indonesia.

 

"China and Indonesia are good neighbors and both in a significant stage of development," Li said, noting that the growth of China-Indonesia strategic partnership would inject more vigor to their respective domestic development.

 

Purwaka expressed his welcome to Li's visit, saying that the construction of the Suramadu bridge assisted by China was a symbol for the friendly cooperation between the two peoples. 

 

Li visited the construction site of Suramadu Bridge on Sunday morning. He asked the Chinese construction working personnel to try their best to ensure the quality of the bridge, which will connect Surabaya and the island of Madura after its completion, and calling on the relevant Chinese financial institutions to offer further support for the projects.

 

Li arrived in Jakarta on Sunday afternoon. He is expected to meet Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, hold talks with Kalla, and attend a China-Indonesia energy forum on Monday to exchange views on the bilateral relations and other regional and international issues of common concern.

 

The 11-day tour, Li's first overseas trip since he took office as vice premier in March, will also take him to Egypt and Kuwait.

 Related Article:

Chinese Vice Premier meets Indonesian President

RI, China sign Rp 35t deals on energy, mining

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Governor kicks off low-cost apartments construction

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 12/24/2008 1:38 PM  

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo kicked off the construction of low-cost rented apartments in Pulogebang of East Jakarta on Wednesday in a bid to provide affordable homes for poor residents, tempointeraktif.com has reported. 

The governor said on Wednesday that the apartments would accomodate residents who wanted to remove from their previous living places, such as under toll bridge and slum areas. 

“I have expected that people who occupy the apartment can keep it well so that it won't turn out to be another slump and dirty area,” he said, adding that the apartment is scheduled to be complete by nexy year. 

Beside Pulogebang, he added, the city administration and developers would construct another apartment in Muara Baru in Pluit of North Jakarta. 

“The apartment will provide homes for people who want to move from their places that are above Pluit dam to the apartment,” he said. (ewd)

Water quality tops complaints in consumer survey

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 12/22/2008 11:05 AM 

 

A one-month survey by the Indonesian Consumer Foundation (YLKI) shows that dirty tap water and a "mysterious" tariff increase are the top complaints about tap water by consumers in Jakarta.

 

The YLKI, which conducted the survey along with the Tap Water Users Committee (KPAM) and the Jakarta Water Supply Regulatory Body from Nov. 17 to Dec. 10, revealed the survey results in two meetings with consumers.

 

The first meeting, on Thursday, was held for customers of PT Aetra Air Jakarta, which supplies tap water to the eastern part of Jakarta. The second meeting, for PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja) customers, was held on Saturday. Both companies are sub-contractors of the city water company, PAM Jaya.

 

"I never have a constant flow of tap water in my home, and when I do, it is usually dirty," Joko, an Aetra consumer from Tanah Tinggi in Central Jakarta, said at the first gathering.

 

"Aetra said we owed them Rp 676 million (US$67,600), but we have proof that we have always made our payments on time," Toto Suprapto, an Aetra consumer from the low-cost Pulo Gadung apartments said, showing the payment receipts.

 

"They cut off our water supply in the fasting month (September). They said that we had to pay for the arrears and the fines, when in fact we always paid them," he added.

 

Despite the poor service water prices in Jakarta, at an average of Rp 7,000 per cubic meter, are the highest in Indonesia, Irzal Z. Djamal, head of the Jakarta Water Supply Regulatory Body said during the first meeting.

 

Representatives from Aetra were present during the gathering but volunteered no comments.

 

Aetra's business services director, Rhamses Simanjuntak, said in a phone interview that one of the reasons why customers received low quality water was because they use water-pumps.

 

"Even the slightest crack could spoil the water's quality as water and other substances outside the distribution pipe might mix with the water from the pipe. Customers should not be using water pumps," he told The Jakarta Post.

 

Responding the customers' claims that they had to use water pumps because of poor water pressure, Rhamses said Aetra was trying their best to solve the problem.

 

"We are currently proposing our investment plan to PAM Jaya for rehabilitation on pipes and infrastructures to improve our services in the next five years," he said.

 

According to Rhamses, Aetra is planning to add a new booster pump in Cilincing, North Jakarta and to upgrade their booster pumps in Sungai Bambu and Sumur Batu in North and Central Jakarta. The project is due for completion in early 2009, according to Rhamses' estimation.

 

Booster pumps are used to increase pressure in water lines, or to pull water from a storage tank. Aetra invested Rp 5 billion for a booster pump in Cilincing, which can pump 700 liters of water per second. During the gathering for Palyja customers, YLKI head Indah Sukmaningsih said dirty water and lack of distribution were both "classic" problems.

 

"What we really need to focus on is the sudden change of criteria for the grouping of tap water consumers. The criteria change increases the tariff between 50 to 150 percent for each consumer," she said.

 

Water tariffs are categorized based on the condition of the buildings they supply. Low-cost apartment tenants, for example, pay much lower tariffs that those who live in luxury apartments. Many customers said water operators sometimes change their tariff category after they have their houses renovated.

 

Sofyan Hadi from KPAM said they are currently conducting research to find proof regarding the tariff changes.

 

"About three months ago they suddenly changed the criteria for Group 2 consumers from 36-square-meter buildings to 28-square-meters," he added.

 

He said they objected to the criteria change because it tripled the tariffs from Rp 1,050 to Rp 3,550 for former Group 2 consumers who are now categorized as Group 3A. Palyja did not inform customers about the change, he said.

 

"When we have gathered enough proof that they changed the criteria without informing the consumers and increased the tariffs for their own benefit, KPAM along with YLKI and other NGOs will file a class action lawsuit against Palyja as early as January 2009," Sofyan said.

 

Palyja representatives did not provide any comments during the gathering.

 

"There were six representatives from Palyja attending the gathering, but because of a policy between us and the regulatory body, we only served as observers," Palyja Corporate Communication Head, Meyritha Maryanie, told The Jakarta Post by phone.

 

"We will list all the complaints the regulatory body compiled in the gathering. They promised that they will submit all of them to us by Tuesday," she said.

 

Meyritha also denied that Palyja did not properly inform their consumers regarding the changes in group criteria.

 

"The criteria change was made based on a Memorandum of Understanding between Palyja, PAM Jaya and Aetra in 2005 but the implementation began during the third quarter of 2007," she said.

 

Meyritha said Palyja had informed their consumers by mail, but did so in several phases. In the first phase, they mailed 5,000 consumers and by 2008 had almost finished mailing consumers.

 

"It is impossible for us to visit our tens of thousands consumers one by one, so we choose to mail them instead," she said.

 

Palyja recently submitted a proposal to the city administration to increase water tariffs by an average 22.7 percent in 2009 to fund their Rp 200 million investment for the year. Palyja said they would use the investment for infrastructure rehabilitation and an improvement of service quality. (hdt)

Want funding? Get competent: World Bank

Mariani Dewi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 12/22/2008 11:04 AM  

State-owned water companies (PDAMs) need to improve their overall competency if they wish to meet a government target of one million new pipeline connections by 2011 or want any external funding for projects, the World Bank said Thursday in Jakarta. 

During the second day of the Nusantara Water national assembly of water companies Aldo Baietti, senior water management specialist from the World Bank Institute, said local water companies should be striving to finance their projects autonomously. 

Companies would have to prove they were financially capable in order to receive external funding, he said. 

When companies cannot cover their project costs and taxes, the government is forced to back them financially. Due to a limited government budget this year, the water sector is suffering from cutbacks. 

The World Bank said investment in water and sanitation had declined from US$400 million in 1999 to around US$45 million in 2005. More than 200 PDAMs allegedly owe the Finance Ministry Rp 4 trillion ($3.4 million) in debt, which the government will clear if companies show they can meet tax requirements. 

PDAMs, now operating debt free, are being urged to revamp their infrastructure projects and invest in the extension of the pipeline system to meet government targets. 

"How do we fund investments in the new pipeline connections? Most PDAMs do not have the capability to financially organize these massive projects, so we must work with the private sector. Also, we are finding the regulations very limiting," a seminar participant said. 

A representative from Surabaya PDAM said the company, which has won five awards for their performance from Business Review magazine, had only managed to extend the network by 18,000 connections a year, compared to the target of 20,000. This same target also requires the company to connect an additional 60,000 households to the water system every year. 

"This target is extremely high and we are struggling to come even close to meeting it," she said. 

An expert in water provision in East Java, Hariwiko Indarjanto, said historically the target was high considering only 7.3 million connections had been made in the last 30 years. Through better technical knowledge, he said, massive savings could be achieved and the extra funding channeled into the pipeline expansion project. 

"My team found many technical errors, such as the overuse of chemicals and electricity, but since the corrections were made, the companies have enjoyed greater savings," he said. 

Atem Ramsundersingh, a senior water management and institution specialist at the World Bank, said the target was attainable if water companies, local governments and local councils improved their competency and supported each other. He said the Bank was ready to assist companies that required support. 

The World Bank last loaned money to Indonesian water company PAM Jaya in 1991.

BRR mission to rebuild Nias Island wraps up

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Medan | Sat, 12/20/2008 9:44 AM 

 

After three and a half years on the job, BRR Nias, the agency overseeing the reconstruction of Nias Island, officially closed up shop Friday, leaving as its legacy nearly Rp 2 trillion worth of infrastructure.

 

BRR head Kuntoro Mang-kusubroto said that by December, the agency had handed over infrastructure assets valued at Rp 1.8 trillion (US$160 million), including houses, roads, government offices, medical facilities, schools and airports.

 

“But some of the road construction is still in the finishing stages so that will be transferred in January,” Kuntoro told reporters in Medan before departing for the Nias capital of Gunung Sitoli.

 

The BRR also handed over on Friday a well-furnished local parliament building worth Rp 9.3 billion.

 

Kuntoro said the closure of the BRR office in Nias would be followed by the end of the agency’s mission in Aceh, the region hardest hit by the devastating tsunami in December 2004. “We have so far closed several offices in Banda Aceh. We hope to close the BRR office in Lhokseumawe on Tuesday,” he added.

 

The BRR, tasked with the recovery of the tsunami-ravaged areas in both Aceh and Nias, will have to end its mission by April 2009.

 

The agency started the rehabilitation in Nias in June 2005, three months after a devastating earthquake flattened the island.

 

The disaster cost Nias, one of the poorest regencies in North Sumatra, nearly 1,000 lives and about Rp 6 trillion in total damage.

 

Kuntoro said there was no need to worry about the capability of the local workforce in managing the assets.

 

“We have provided a series of training workshops for local residents, including the local administration staff. Let them develop self-reliance,” he said.

 

Vice President Jusuf Kalla had earlier expressed concern about the sustainability of the reconstruction projects in Nias because of the local workforce’s lack of skills.

 

Kalla asked donor countries involved in the Aceh and Nias rehabilitation projects to help sustain the projects by such means as providing scholarships to local people.

 

Kuntoro said that the BRR had also helped revive economic development by rebuilding the maritime, fishery, agriculture and tourism sectors, which were worst affected by the tsunami.

 

Former environment minister Emil Salim, representing the BRR supervisory board, praised the work of the agency after the tsunami.

 

“The government needs to adopt the working system of the BRR to speed up the construction of infrastructure across the rest of the country, including housing,” Emil said.

 

Customary villages receive Rp 20 billion grants

Ni Komang Erviani, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar | Sat, 12/20/2008 12:11 PM 

 

Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika presented 200 desa pekraman (traditional customary villages) with a CBD (community-based development) endowment fund of Rp 20 billion.

 

Each village received Rp 100 million in cash to be used to finance community-based poverty eradication programs.

 

Of the village recipients, 21 are in Karangasem regency, 13 in Buleleng, 41 in Bangli, 15 in Klungkung, 40 in Gianyar, 40 in Tabanan, 29 in Badung and one in Denpasar.

 

The community-based poverty eradication programs will assist a total of 18,400 poor households across those villages.

 

The program, known as the CBD Bali Sejahtera initiative, was launched in 2001. The initiative has so far provided grants to 1,016 of Bali's 1,453 desa pekraman.

 

Desa pekraman and banjar (traditional neighborhood organization) are among the most powerful community institutions in the province.

 

In previous years, the World Bank was the source of the grants. This year, however, the grants were taken from the province's and regency's annual budgets.

 

Pastika asked the leaders of the desa pekraman to use the grants efficiently and appropriately.

 

Earlier, he stressed that poverty eradication was the administration's top priority, particularly since the island was facing the imminent impacts of the ongoing global financial crisis.

 

"Sooner or later, the crisis will affect us, so we had better be prepared for that period," he said.

 

He said he expected the desa pekraman use the grants for financing vocational training and education programs, creating new job opportunities and improving health services.

 

"We hope the grants will give birth to community-based economics," he said.

 

Deputy chief of the Grand Council of Desa Pekraman (MUDP), Agung Arnawa, praised the CBD Bali Sejahtera as an important initiative that would play a critical role in efforts to eradicate poverty in the island.

 

"The fact that the local customary communities are entrusted with managing and disbursing the grants has made the initiative an important step in transforming these communities into self-reliant institutions," he said.

 

He said the fund's disbursement methods would be tailored to meet the specific needs of the individual recipients.

 

"If the recipients need seed money to set up a cottage industry, then we will provide them with the initial capital," he said. "If they want to set up a cattle farm then we will supply them with calves."

Wind turbines fail to generate power

The Jakarta Post, Sat, 12/20/2008 12:11 PM 

 

Seven wind turbines launched in Nusa Penida, an island southeast of Bali, during the United Nations Framework on Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC) in December 2007 have failed to deliver any of their promised power to local residents.

 

A solar plant was also opened during the conference, as a demonstration of the administrations commitment to renewable energy. The solar plant continues to perform efficiently, producing up to 30 kilowatts of electricity per hour. The wind farms, however, have stayed silent.

 

Head of Nusa Penida district Wayan Sumarta acknowledged that the seven wind plants have never been operational.

 

He said he regrets their failure, lamenting the fact that the plants cost billions of rupiah to construct and had not lived up the high hopes locals had for them as an alternative source of energy.

 

"It is truly regrettable that a major project like this was not been managed appropriately. Now, they are nothing more than monuments. We expect the government to pay serious attention to them," he said.

 

Each wind turbine cost a reported Rp 3.5 billion ($US325,000) to build and had a planned production capacity 80 kilowatts.

 

Contacted by phone, spokesperson of the Bali branch of the state-owned electricity company PT PLN, Agung Mustika, denied that the plants have never worked.

 

"All of the plants operate normally. If their turbines do not move, they are storing the energy. It doesn't mean they are not functioning," he said.

 

PLN financed in part the construction of the plants and is responsible for their operation and maintenance.--JP/Ni Komang Erviani

Decree on fiber optics to be issued next year

Tifa Asrianti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 12/19/2008 11:02 AM

Traffic congestion caused by continuous excavations will be diminished as the city administration plans to create a master blueprint of the underground optic network.

The blueprint will be part of a gubernatorial decree regulating fiber optic development.

Governor Fauzi Bowo on Thursday said the decree would be ready by the first quarter of next year.

"We want to provide better services ... There will be no more overlapping road excavation projects," he said at City Hall.

The city administration has stopped issuing permits for all road excavation projects while the regulation is being drafted.

"We do not have a verification system for fiber optic development. For the time being, we only have permits for road excavations and another permit for short-time excavation. After the decree issuance, we will use the short-time permits for fiber optic development," Fauzi said.

He said the master plan would contain calculations on future demand for traffic lights, electronic traffic control, tax transmission data and surveillance cameras that would use fiber optics.

"We will let private companies operate the fiber optic network. There will be a city-owned company involved in the fiber optic network operation, but we will treat it like a private company," he said.

Jakarta currently has a 2,221-kilometer-long fiber optic network.

Fauzi said development was previously disorganized because operators usually set up networks at the request of consumers, usually in upscale business areas.

"We even found operators applying for cable permits for what later turned out to be fiber optic projects.

"We realized that fiber optics will be needed not only by businesses, but by households as well."

Yusuf Effendi Pohan, head of public street lights and utilities, said the administration needed to anticipate fiber optic development after seeing 50 percent growth last year.

Ardi Sudarto, sales marketing manager for corporate solutions at fiber optic-based Internet service provider CBN, said his company saw the regulation as an opportunity to expand fiber optic networks to new areas.

"Perhaps the regulation is aimed at organizing the network and excavation activities. We support the decree as long as it allows us to do business and serve customers," he said.

Yusuf said the fiber optic development would help reduce the number of base transceiver stations (BTS) in the city as it could transfer data quicker than regular cable networks.

Currently, there are 3,400 BTS towers in Jakarta. The city administration plans to limit them to 800 towers.

"With fiber optics, cellular phones will have better signals," he said.

Yusuf said the administration would make fiber optics in line with ducting projects, which aim to integrate utility networks such as electrical wiring, water pipes and sewer pipes.

The 200-meter ducting under Menteng Park, Central Jakarta, is one of the ducting projects completed by the city administration.

Govt target 10 million tap water connections in three years

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Vice President M Jusuf Kalla said the government would install 10 million tap water connections within the next three years or much faster than in the five years planned earlier. 

"It should be installed sooner than the five year target, if possible it will be completed within three years," Kalla said here on Wednesday at the opening of the "Nusantara Water Exhibition 2008" at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC). 

The exhibition was organized to promote the 10 million tap water connections program by 2013. 

The development of the 10 million connections should be accelerated because it was relatively easier than the construction of 10,000 MW power plants, he said. 

He said tap water technology had hardly changed over the past one decade. Besides, the clean water management used a lot of local contents therefore it could be easily done, he said. 

"To install 10 million connections, there is no need to clear lands such as those for toll road construction which is quite difficult," he said. 

He said the government treated the water issue like other basic necessities such as rice and electricity. Therefore, the government would do anything to make sure that the people have access to tap water supplies. 

Vice President Kalla said that government would ask national banks to help finance the 10 million tap water connection program. 

He explained there were just 10 million tap water connections which had been installed over the past 30 years. 

"The government will ask the national banking to finance it. This is nothing to do with the upcoming General Elections 2009. This is for the people," he said.

 

To promote the clean water supply program, the government has written-off the past debts of regional water supply companies (PDAM), and restore forests and river basin areas, according to Kalla.

Distribution of recovery aid for Aceh uneven: WB

Erwida Maulia, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 12/17/2008 7:03 AM 

 

An ineffective relief and recovery system has led to uneven distributions of disaster-relief funds for reconstruction projects post the tsunami disaster in 2004, a World Bank expert said Tuesday. 

 

Jock McKeon, the bank’s Aceh-based financial analyst, said that while the education and health sectors in Aceh had received more financial support than they needed to recover from the tsunami, other sectors, including environment, energy and infrastructure had “consistently” received inadequate funding.

 

He said NGOs operating in the region had focused too heavily on short-term relief.

 

“Donors and the government programs tend to look at longer-term reconstruction programs, such as in the energy and infrastructure sectors. However, NGOs have tended toward more short-term projects, like health and education.

 

“So a lot of the NGOs’ money has gone in particular into these two sectors. There is really an uneven split in where the NGOs channel their money to,” McKeon said on the sidelines of a book launch by the World Bank and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

 

The book, entitled Data Against Natural Disasters, highlights the critical need for effective systems in post-disaster areas to ensure aid effectiveness.

 

It reviews the success and failures of efforts to establish innovative monitoring systems in post-disaster Guatemala, Haiti, Indonesia, Mozambique, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

 

The chapter on Indonesia describes the methodology used by the World Bank to track nearly US$8 billion worth of funds for the post-tsunami reconstruction of Aceh and Nias.

 

McKeon, who wrote the chapter on Indonesia, said the channeling of the funds had been assessed annually during meetings of the Coordination Forum for Aceh and Nias, organized by the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR), in which information on the latest issues regarding where the government, donors and NGOs would channel money was shared.

 

The forum, he said, appeared to have failed to guide NGOs to reallocate their funds.

 

Priyadi Kardono, data and information division head at the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), said the government, through either the BRR or the now-defunct National Disaster Management Coordinating Agency, had yet to maximize its power to coordinate the aid distributions in Aceh.

 

However, he said the establishment of the BNPB in January would hopefully boost coordination among the government, donors and NGOs.

 

The tsunami that devastated Aceh and Nias is estimated to have cost a total of US$4.5 billion in losses, or 2.2 percent of Indonesia’s GDP.

 

The infrastructure sector received most of the reconstruction funds, amounting to $2.87 billion, followed by the social sector (including health and education), $1.55 billion, the productive sector (such as agriculture and enterprises), $645 million and other sectors, $630 million. So far, only about 50 percent of the funds have been channeled.

 

The post-tsunami reconstruction funds for Aceh and Nias were partly provided by more than 130 donor countries ($2.1 billion), the Indonesian government ($1.9 billion) and NGOs ($1.6 billion).

 

Clean water pipe network extended to poorer areas

Erwida Maulia, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 12/16/2008 11:11 AM  

Microcredit financing schemes and community-based pipe networks have been introduced into low-income areas nationally to increase people's accessibility to clean drinking water. 

Director for drinking water development at the Public Works Ministry, Sitti Bellafolijani, said Monday that currently most low-income families living in urban-slum areas had to pay up to 10 times the average price compared to those living in wealthier areas for their monthly tap water. 

"While most wealthier areas are connected to piped water, poorer regions have to use either low-quality water from contaminated shallow wells or rivers or buy it from water vendors at higher prices," she said at the launch of USAID's Environmental Services Program (ESP) guidelines on access to drinking water. 

Director for settlement and housing at the National Development Planning Agency, Budi Hidayat, said the inaccessibility of piped water in poorer areas was due to the costs of installing new pipes, among other reasons. 

ESP's Gusril Bahar said microcredit financing schemes were allowing low-income families to pay for the new water connections in installments. Under this scheme, local partner banks provide soft loans to help families cover the costs and pay local tap water companies (PDAMs). 

The banks include state lender Bank BRI and region-owned Bank Jatim and Bank Sumut. 

ESP said it had facilitated the establishment of microcredit programs for new piped water connections in 11 PDAMs across Java and North Sumatra throughout the year. 

Financial constraints are not the only obstacle preventing piped water from reaching low-income families. Problems related to illegal land status, fear of water theft, leakages and inefficient water billing have also contributed to some PADM's refusing to expand coverage. 

ESP has introduced its "Communal Master Meter" program in response to this issue, which involves a PDAM installing a meter for a certain number of households in a community. This program requires the establishment of a community-based organization responsible for the operation and maintenance of the simple pipe network and master meter, including the flexible billing of customers and monthly payments to PDAMs. 

According to the Public Works Ministry, piped water coverage reaches only 45 percent of households in urban areas and barely 10 percent of rural areas. The average percentage of piped water service at a national level stands at 24 percent. 

A 2006 National Economic Survey data revealed that most Indonesians obtain their drinking water from non-piped-water sources, including wells, underground streams (using pumps), springs and rivers. 

Expanding the tap water networks will be crucial for Indonesia should it wish to meet its Millennium Development Goals. One of these targets it to halve the number of people without access to safe drinking water by 2015. Through piped water systems, said Gusril, people will be able to obtain the best quality safe drinking water. 

Under a 2004 law on water resources, the private sector is allowed to invest in the piped water industry.