Massive dredging for Jakarta’s rivers in 2011

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 12/28/2010

Jakarta will launch a massive river dredging program for 13 rivers next year that is expected to reduce the pressure of flowing water by up to 10 percent.

“In accordance with Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo’s commitment, I will initiate 13 river dredging programs to reduce the risk of floods in Jakarta even further,” Governor Fauzi Bowo said on Tuesday.

Fauzi said the river dredging will ease water pressure by 10 percent, on top of the 30 percent expected when the East Flood Canal is completed next year.

The Jakarta administration’s 2011 allocated budget from the central government will be Rp 27 trillion (US$3 billion).

Army builds 775 houses of disaster victims

Antara News, Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Army is building 775 houses for natural disaster victims in seven provinces throughout Indonesia.

The head of the Military Headquarters Colonel Minulyo said here Monday the houses are built with cooperation of the Social Affairs Ministry.

He said the rehabilitation, reconstruction and relocation of the houses are for this year`s natural disaster victims in South Sulawesi, West Java, Central Java, North Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara, Central Sulawesi, West Nusa Tenggara, and West Nusa Tenggara.

Minulyo said the 775 houses are being built in several areas under the IIIrd Military Command, 307 houses, comprising 54 in West Bandung regency and 253 in Majalengka regency.

In the area under the IVth Military Command 51 houses are built, including 30 in Purworejo regency and 20 pct already completed, under the VIIth Military Command 331 houses, comprising 70 units in Sangihe Islands province in North Sulawesi and 6 pct completed, and 109 units in Parigi Moutong regency, Central Sulawesi with 8 percent of them completed, and 122 units in Palopo regency, South Sulawesi.

And in the area under the command of the IXth Military Command 44 units in Belu regency, East Nusa Tenggara with 67.4 pct completed, and 72 units in Bima regency, West Nusa Tenggara with 40 pct completed.

The rehabilitation and reconstruction, and relocation of houses of the natural disaster victims is carried out in 60 days starting from the IVth week of November 2010 until the fourth week of January 2011, involving military personnel, social services, regional administrations and the local population with funding from the social affairs ministry.

Govt to tender Jakarta tap water pipeline in 2011

Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 12/22/2010

The Public Works Ministry says it will hold a tender on a tap water pipeline project in July of 2011 to ensure Jakarta’s water supply.

The 58-kilometer pipeline will connect Jatiluhur dam in Purwakarta to a water treatment facility in Buaran, East Jakarta.

“Jakartans are now facing a tap water crisis, so we have to speed up the tender,” Rahmad Karnadi, the Public Works Ministry official in charge of the tender, said on Wednesday.

Rahmad said the project would require at least Rp 2 trillion (US$ 222 million) in investments.

“Construction will start in 2012 and will be completed by 2014,” Rahmad said.

He said he expected the government to allocate money to subsidize the pipeline construction.

“We need subsidies to lower the tap water rate to Rp 2,500 per cubic meter. That is affordable for most people,” Rahmad said.

He added that the current rate was Rp 4,000 per cubic meter.

Jakarta, Amsterdam share best practices

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 12/20/2010

Clean water is becoming a serious problem in Indonesia due to prolonged difficulties faced by many local water companies, such as a shortage of raw water sources, high level of water leakage, mismanagement and unprofitable water rates that are far lower than production costs.

Ikhwan of the Indonesia Association of Water Supply Companies (PERPAMSI) said Wednesday that many people were unable to get enough clean water due to poor water delivery services, including high water leakage.

“A large percentage of water is lost in the delivery system. Technical solutions are needed to help local water companies deal with the problems, including how to prevent contamination in water pipelines and to deliver adequate water to remote areas as part of efforts to contain water-borne diseases,” he told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a two-day national workshop of LOGO South Indonesia titled “Scaling Up Successes for Improved Water Services Delivery in Indonesia”, which ended Wednesday.

The workshop was held by the Indonesian-Netherlands Association (INA) in cooperation with LOGO South Indonesia Programme of VNG International, an organization of Dutch municipalities.

Ikhwan said many local water utilities could not run their businesses well as they were hampered by a lack of raw water sources. “We might resolve it by carrying out a kind of water regionalization to help solve the water supply industry’s problems. However, this would require sustained attention to policy, especially from the government. So, it won’t be easy,” he said.

Unprofitable water rates are another problem faced by many local water companies, which leads to poor performance. This has created inefficiency within local water utilities, resulting in failure to meet their obligations.

During the two-day meeting, LOGO South Indonesia and its counterparts, including several local water utilities, shared good practices achieved within its five-year program from 2005 to 2010. It also discussed a whole range of other issues, including how to set profitable water rates, reduce water losses, prevent contamination in water pipelines and deliver water to remote areas to contain water-borne diseases spread through poor water quality and sanitation.

Koos Dekkers of the World Waternet Foundation, representing Twinning Partners LOGO South Indonesia from the Netherlands, said there was a connection between drinking water and health.

He said about 90 percent of the households in Meranti regency in Riau Islands had no running water. ”They use rainwater for their daily consumption. The water, however, is placed in an open reservoir outside their houses, directly under the sun. As a result, the water temperature rises from 28 degrees to 38 degrees, making both bacteria and virus grow four times quicker,” he told the Post.

By simply building a roof over the water reservoir, people could keep their water clean.

“We only need a simple solution, instead of a sophisticated technique, to keep the water reservoir cooler so that bacteria will grow much less. However, people might not know about this,” Dekkers said, adding that about 600 people suffered from diarrhea every month due to poor water quality and sanitation.

Indonesian-Netherlands Association (INA) director Elmar Bouma said LOGO South Indonesia had supported the strengthening of local governments’ capacity to improve their water delivery services, such as in North Sumatra and three cities in West Java: Bogor, Banten and Sukabumi. (ebf)

Residents protest alleged ground water pollution

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang | Mon, 12/13/2010

Dozens of residents of Kadu Agung village in Tigaraksa district, Tangerang regency, staged a rally Monday at the local legislative council office protesting ground water pollution allegedly caused by a salt factory.

The residents accused salt producer PT Lautan Garam of randomly disposing its waste around their neighborhood, polluting the ground water they usually consume.

“The taste of the water in our wells has turned salty,” protestor Bustami said.

Residents ask both the Tangerang legislative council and regency administration to inspect the ground water and take stern measures against the firm if the pollution is indeed caused by the waste the company has disposed, he said.

Bustami said the firm began producing salt in the village ten years ago, after which local residents began to complain about the ground water tasting salty.

Lautan Garam spokesman Hutami Wijaya said he had never heard of any complaints from locals before and that the firm was now trying to communicate with the residents.

“With the residents’ objections we will likely close the salt factory here and relocate it to East Java,” he said.

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500 temporary shelters built for Mt Merapi victims

Antara News, Sunday, December 12, 2010 20:49 WIB

Yogyakarta (ANTARA News) - The Yogyakarta provincial and city governments build 500 temporary shelters for those living along Code river bank, whose houses were damaged by Mount Merapi`s cold lava floods, Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X said.

"The temporary shelters are located on the eastern side of Mandala Krida Stadium," Sri Sultan said when the launching of cleaning and dredging Code River program here Sunday.

The residents, whose houses were affected by the volcano`s cold lava floods but remained at the refugee centers, were encouraged to stay in the temporary shelters.

"The temporary shelters are equipped with such facilities as beds, cooking utensils, clean water, and bathroom, so that they need not be worried about their daily needs," he said.

Besides erecting temporary shelters, the provincial and city governments also continued efforts to dredge the Mount Merapi sand that the cold lava floods had carried, he said.

By dredging the river regularly, the residents living along the Code river bank could be prevented from the overflowing of the river during the rainy season, he said.

Thus, the dredging should be conducted continuously to keep the area around the river safe and secure, he said.

Supported by the SCTV Charity Fund and XL, the dredging of Code River showed the mutual cooperation among Indonesians, a Director General of Communication and Information Ministry, Muhammad Budi Setiawan said.

The activity was aimed at easing the suffering of the Mount Merapi disaster victims, he said.

The Mount Merapi eruptions` volcanic materials, which consisted of sand and rocks, had filled up the river bed of Code River, making it vulnerable to floods. This situation threatened the neighborhood area of the river bank, he said.

"We hope the sand collected from the dredging could be used to make dam and pavement blocks," the Director of SCTV Foto Sariaatmadja said.

The dredging was also expected to give locals economical benefit besides preventing floods, he said.

The SCTV Charity Fund and XL (a cellular phone service provider) granted a number of equipments such as 900 sand scoops, 100 hoes, 50 shovels, 72,000 sacks, 4 sand suction devices, four water vacuums, 20 concrete block molds, and 40 pavement block molds.

Pump inventor wins sustainable innovation award

RNW, 4 December 2010

Auke Idzenga won the BBC World Challenge 2010 award

The Dutch inventor of a pump powered by water has won a prestigious British prize for sustainable innovation. Auke Idzenga won the BBC World Challenge 2010 award, which comes with a 20,000 dollar cash prize.

Mr Idzenga, who lives in the Philipines, has developed a hydraulic ram pump, which uses the power of a river's flow to push water uphill without any other energy input. Over the past twenty years, the simple device has brought clean drinking water to over 150,000 poor villagers living in mountainous regions. The pump saves both hours of back-breaking work and cash where expensive pumps are replaced. The pump is soon to be introduced in Laos, China and Afghanistan. .

The award ceremony will be boradcast today on BBC World.

(Photo Auke Idzenga)

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Govt starts building temporary houses for Merapi refugees

Erwida Maulia, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 11/22/2010 9:20 PM

National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) secretary Fatchul Hadi says the government has kicked off the construction of 300 temporary housing units for people displaced by the Mount Merapi eruptions.

The temporary houses would be prioritized for those living nearest to the volcano’s crater as their residences were the most severely damaged by the ongoing volcanic eruptions, Fatchul said.

“We’ve laid the first stones, and will begin by constructing 300 units. We’re still monitoring the activities of Merapi and may eventually build between 3,000 and 5,000 units,” he told a press conference at the Vice Presidential Office after a Cabinet meeting discussing rehabilitation and reconstruction plans in three disaster-struck areas: Wasior in West Papua, Mentawai in West Sumatra and areas surrounding Mount Merapi in Yogyakarta and Central Java.

Fatchul said it could not be decided yet exactly how many temporary houses would be built to accommodate people displaced by the volcanic eruptions because volatile seismic activity continues to persist.

Secretary to the Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Indroyono Soesilo said the number of Merapi refugees had now declined to 200,000 from a peak of  400,000 two weeks ago

Ark Hotel Construction time lapse building 15 storeys in 2 days

Video: Ark Hotel

Archdaily, By Kelly Minner — Filed under: Videos , China, Shanghai, Nov 10, 2010

Only in China could we find a video featuring the construction of the 15 story Ark Hotel built in 6 days. Located in Changsa this building is level 9 earthquake resistant and incorporates some sustainable practices.

PLN provides solar power generators for Mentawai

Antara News, Wednesday, November 3, 2010 21:11 WIB

Padang, W Sumatra (ANTARA News) - State-owned power utility company PLN provided 60 sets of solar power generators (PLTS) for the victims of earthquake and its subsequent tsunami disasters in Mentawai Islands, West Sumatra, a PLN official said.

"The 60 sets of PLTS will be sent to the evacuation centers to provide the victims with lighting," PLN Operation Director for Western Indonesia Harry Jaya Pahlawan said here on Wednesday.

He said that one set of PLTS consisted of three 100 watt lamps and one solar panel. "Each PLTS is able to turn on a 300 watt lamp and could last for 6 to 8 hours," he said.

Harry said that the PLTS were badly needed by the disaster`s survivors which were not staying at refugee camps. After all the power generators (PLTG) network in Sikakap subdistrict, Mentawai district, had not yet functioned.

On October 25, 2010, a magnitude-7.2 earthquake and a subsequent tsunami hit the Mentawai Islands district, West Sumatra, killing at least 408 people and caused no less than 303 others to go missing.

A total of 270 people are seriously injured and 142 lightly injured in the disaster. The 7.2 magnitude temblor and the tsunami devastated 517 buildings and cast minor damage to 204 buildings.

A total of 22,595 residents of the total 26,004 dwelling in Bumi Sikkerei were reported to be evacuated in safe places.

Governor Orders Construction of Bamboo Shacks for Conjugal Visits for Volcano Victims

Jakarta Globe, November 02, 2010

Jakarta. Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X has ordered the construction of bamboo shelters for families displaced by the Merapi volcano disaster to allow for privacy, including for married couples who wish to engage in sexual activity.

Merapi evacuees having a meal at a
shelter.Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan
Hamengkubuwono X planned to build one
shelter for one refugee family to provide
privacy. (Antara Photo)

“[On Monday] we received an instruction from the governor to build each family a shelter,” Sleman district deputy head deputy Yuni Rahayu told Detik.com. “The special shelter is necessary so children can study and husbands and wives can conduct their sexual activities in private.”

With predictions the eruptions could continue for months and that the rebuilding process for those who lost homes even longer, Yuni said the shelters would need to accommodate 13,000 refugees.

He said the three x four meter structures would be manufactured from bamboo.

All natural: The Green School in Bali features bamboo construction
engineered into a more modern look. JP/ Zul Trio Anggono

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Chevron oil pipe explodes, 2 injured

Antara News, Thursday, October 28, 2010 13:27 WIB

Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - A crude oil pipeline of PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia had burst harming two children in Manggala Jonson Village, Tanah Putih sub district, Rokan Hilir District, Riau province on Thursday.

"Two children were badly burned in the explosion," a resident, Andi said.

The pipeline located near the village burst at 7 am at the local time and also caused injuries to Wanda (6) and Rini (16).

The children were badly injured as they covered by oil and their skin had blisters. The two had been taken to the Chevron medical center, Andi said.

"The sound of the explosion was so loud that I thought it was a bomb. The oil spurt 10 meters high," he said.

Three houses of Anto, Sukidi and Yunus were covered with the crude oil.

The dark black oil spilled the walls, roofs and the yards.

A motorcycle was thrown 15 meters away by the force of the explosion, he said.

The chief of Crime and Investigation Unit of Rohil Police, Adjunct Commissioner Arif Hidayat Ritonga said he had sent a number of police personnel to the location to secure the accident site, near the Trans Sumatran road leading to Medan , North Sumatra.

The company had sent a representative to the location to clear up the oil spill on that also hit a number of houses, he said.

Jakarta will (not) submerge?

The Jakarta Post, Firdaus Ali, Jakarta | Sat, 10/09/2010 10:17 AM | Opinion

What are the real ongoing and continuing environmental problems facing Jakarta? The academic answer is the carrying capacity that is no longer able to support the continuing increase of population.

This is because the city with an area of 662 square kilometers is poorly planned and managed so it is not able to accommodate its fast growing population demand for services. Hence, the city contributes pressure to the environment beyond its limited carrying capacity.

One of its essential resources for the city carrying capacity is water resources. What are the problems related with the water resources? First, we view it from water resources stressful aspect that is the increasing capacity of runoff, especially the effect of climate change, which creates climate anomaly and the degradation of water storage capacity, and infiltration of the soil, which extends from the upstream area to the Jakarta area itself.

The real impact of all these phenomenon is the flooding and stagnant water that occurs almost every rainfall (in the upstream area as well as within the city itself). Stagnant water and flooding are the real paralyzing cause for the city’s chaotic and extreme traffic congestion. This situation is exacerbated by the condition of a dilapidated drainage infrastructure system (it was designed some 30-40 years ago).

More ironically, almost all of the drainage canals are no longer properly functioning because they are mostly covered by buildings and piles of sediment and solid waste.

The second issue is the limited resources to meet the city’s water demand, especially clean piped water to meet the city water needs. This creeping problem has been linked to the serious urban ecological issue that is currently receiving public attention, particularly after the collapse of Jl. RE Martadinata in North Jakarta. What are the causal relations of land subsidence and the limited supply of clean piped water?

A very limited piped water service coverage ratio, which is only able to supply about 44 percent of the total Jakarta water demand, along with a very high water tariff (presently averaging Rp 7,400 per cubic meter), excessive groundwater abstraction occurs especially by commercial entities (hotels, apartments, malls, office buildings and industries).

The massive groundwater exploitation exceeding its natural recharge capacity has continually caused the lowering of a deep groundwater table and eventually causing land subsidence in many locations in the city.

On the other hand, the city also has to face the rising sea water level due to global warming. These two phenomena will threaten the city’s livable future, because some part of the urban area will likely submerge permanently if there is no technology, policy as well as social engineering intervention provided to mitigate the causes.

What are the available solutions for this very basic and essential urban problem? First is the need to rehabilitate and improve the whole city’s drainage networks system starting from the micro, collector and macro drainage systems.

Second, is the need to control the runoff by maximizing the water infiltration and retention (storage capacity) on land surface through the construction of ponds, lakes, dams, as well as underground water storage (reservoir), which in turn could also be used as additional raw water sources for the Jakarta-owned water supply company (PAM Jaya).

Third, it is to restrict immediately the deep groundwater exploitation by adequately supplying clean piped water, and of course with affordable water tariffs. Adequately provided clean piped water can only be done by increasing the supply of raw water for processing.

In the condition that none of the rivers can be utilized due to pollution, increase the supply of clean piped water can only be carried out by first, reducing the water leakages, and second, by building a potable water supply provision system at Jatiluhur area, which originally was studied and proposed by the Jakarta Water Supply Regulatory Body.

Fourth, while awaiting completion of the Jatiluhur water supply system project, the business communities should be encouraged and obliged to carry out their domestic wastewater reclaimation measure in order to convert it into clean non-potable water. This measure would reduce the reliance on groundwater utilization as well as clean piped water for their water demand, whereas at the same time also reduce the amount of wastewater discharge into the water bodies.

Fifth, for a long-term perspective, we must revitalize all existing open water bodies such as rivers, streams, ponds and dams in order to make them suitable raw water sources for PAM Jaya and at the same time also provides city ammenities just as in other developed cities in the world provides its quality of life (as also mentioned in the Bible and the Koran that potrays heaven with streams and rives flowing).

All of these, of course, would need considerable investment, but the risks are much more costly when they become disasters, and at that time we would have little opportunity to make the necessary restorations.

The writer, a lecturer and researcher at the Environmental Engineering Department, the University of Indonesia, is founder of the Indonesian Water Institute and a member of Jakarta’s Water Resources Council.

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Disaster mitigation ‘neglected in post-quake reconstruction’

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post, Padang | Wed, 10/06/2010 10:06 AM

The government is too busy rebuilding damaged facilities and infrastructure from the past earthquake, neglecting precautionary measures for a possible disaster in the future, an official says.

The head of the Provincial Board for Disaster Mitigation (BPBD), Ade Edward, said mitigation efforts should have been included in the rehabilitation program, especially because many houses and other buildings were located in areas prone to earthquakes.

“They need special handling,” he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

The mitigation measures, he said, should include a policy on how to build quake-resistant buildings.

Ade added that in a number of residential complexes, houses were reconstructed to normal standards.

He criticized the fact that mitigation efforts were not included in the Rp 6.4 trillion-rehabilitation program.

The September 2009 earthquake killed more than a thousand people, destroyed nearly 250,000 houses, more than 400 regional administration offices, almost 5,000 education facilities and 153 hospitals.

Ade stressed the need for high levels of preparedness for similar disasters in the future.

“If an earthquake occurs and triggers a tsunami, the impact could be very serious as it would not just be a problem of buildings but also lack of evacuation lanes because we did not include mitigation aspects in the rehabilitation program,” he said.

Referring to an earthquake-tsunami threat map issued by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry in 2008, Ade said tsunami-triggering earthquakes with a magnitude of more than 9 threatened coastal regions of West Sumatra.

A tsunami caused by such earthquakes, the map states, were predicted to reach between 3 and 6 meters high in Padang and to affect areas up to 2 kilometers inland within 35 to 50 minutes.

“The red zone is 500 meters from the beach,” Ade, who is also coordinator of the West Sumatra branch of the Association of Indonesian Geologists (IAGI) , said.

However, he added, as most of Padang’s residents lived along the coast, a tsunami could threaten 500,000 of the city’s population, or a million people living along the province’s coast.

Patra Rina Dewi, the executive director of Tsunami Alert Community (Kogami), expressed similar concerns, saying that the province had not prioritized disaster preparedness.

“The reconstruction program is not an excuse for neglecting disaster preparedness,” Patra said.

Kogami held a tsunami evacuation simulation in Padang Pariaman and other regencies last month involving 3,000 residents.

Operators claim major upgrade of pipe networks

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 10/06/2010 11:44 AM

The two tap water operators that serve Jakarta, PT PAM Lyonaise Jaya (Palyja) and PT Aetra Air Jakarta (Aetra), have announced they have completed major improvements to their infrastructure since they were established in 1998, claiming improved water quality, coverage and pressure.

Palyja, which serves the west side of Jakarta, says it has built 1,200 kilometers of new pipes and restored 850 kilometers of its existing 5,200 kilometers of pipes at a total cost of Rp 1.35 trillion (US$151.2 million) since 1998.

Palyja public relations manager Meyritha Maryanie said a further 3,000 kilometers of pipes needed to be restored.

The company booked a net profit of Rp 222 billion last year, up from Rp 136 billion in 2008.

“We realize that under such conditions, we won’t be able to supply enough water for the areas on the west side of the city but we have done what we can, especially amid a lack of water resources and also a lack of awareness among residents,” Meyritha told The Jakarta Post.

She said that her company drew the majority of its water from the Jatiluhur resevoir in West Java and another reservoir in Tangerang.

“We are planning to use water from the Pesanggrahan river as it often overflows during the rainy season. However we are still checking the quality of the water and negotiating with the authorities,” she said.

Palyja and Aetra have held the exclusive rights to manage the city’s tap water since 1998.

Aetra, then PT Thames PAM Jaya, has built 1,451 kilometers of new pipes to add to the 4,400 kilometers of pipes that it already had. Aetra serves residents on the east side of Jakarta.

Aetra general manager Agit Pratomo said the company was focused on allocating more money to expand its pipe network and build new pumps to increase water pressure this year.

“We understand that many of our customers have complained about our supply so we are allocating

Rp 300 billion to build 232 kilometers of pipes and two pressure pumps,” he said.

He said his company usually only spent an average of about Rp 120 billion per year on infrastructure

upgrades.

“We hope that private companies will become more aware of the need to use tap water in accordance with the 2007 bylaw,” he added, refering to a bylaw that stipulates that commercial and industrial buildings that tap into the ground water must pay taxes that are more costly than paying for tap water.

The companies do not produce enough tap water to meet demand. They are running at an estimated combined defecit of 4,000 liters of water per second this year, based on the assumption that the population of the city is growing at a rate of up to 0.3 percent per year.

In fact, the Jakarta Statistics Agency (BPS) recently announced that the population growth had reached 1.3 percent per year.

Earlier, experts said that almost all commercial buildings in the city used groundwater because of the lack in supply and coverage of tap water in the city. (rch)

Three reservoirs to anticipate water crisis

Antara News, Sunday, October 3, 2010 18:43 WIB

Bekasi, West Java (ANTARA News) - The Bekasi Tirta Bhagasasi Tap Water Company (PDAM) had built three water reservoirs to anticipate water supply crisis in the region.

"We have constructed three new reservoirs one of which in Pondok Ungu to maximize clean water distribution in the northern region," a public relations staff of the Bekasi PDAM Wawan said here Sunday.

The other two reservoirs had been built in South Cikarang and North Cikarang sub-districts, he said.

The reservoirs having capacity of 2,000 cubic meters and equipped with clean water distribution pipelines and pumps, are to supply clean water to residents in the northern region, he said.

The water reservoir in North Cikarang, however, had a 500 cubic meters capacity to supply clean water to North Cikarang and West Cikarang Sub-districts, he said, adding that the reservoir served the Sukatani Office where water was often polluted.

The water distribution pipelines in North Cikarang had a total length of 3 kilometers and a diameter of 600 millimeters, he said.

The Tap Water Company was also building a reservoir in Tegal Gede village, South Cikarang, he said, adding that will be able to hold 100 cubic meters of water, and fund for building it had been allocated from the Regional Budget.

Public relations chief of Tap Water Company Endang said the company had around 2,000 cubic meters of clean water of reservoirs to supply 147,000 customers in Bekasi.

"We could only supply 30 percent of the need of Bekasi Municipal residents and 20 percent of the needs of Bekasi District residents, he said, adding that Tirta Bhagasasi Tap Water Company was the second best of its kind in West Java after Bandung," he said.

Leaking Pipeline Forces Oil Shutdown

Jakarta Globe, Ririn Radiawati Kusuma | October 01, 2010

A gas pipeline sprung a leak at Chevron Pacific Indonesia’s Duri field in Sumatra, upstream oil and gas authority BPMigas said on Friday, resulting in a drop in production of 200,000 barrels per day. Darwin Zahedy Saleh, left in this file photo, the minister of energy and mineral resources said he was confident that an increase in production could compensate for the losses. (Antara Photo/Widodo S. Jusuf)   

    

Up to 20 percent of the nation’s oil production capacity is offline after a gas pipeline sprung a leak at Chevron Pacific Indonesia’s Duri field in Sumatra, upstream oil and gas authority BPMigas said on Friday.

The regulator said 200,000 barrels per day of production capacity had been shut down due to a leak in a pipeline that supplied natural gas used to power oil-field operations. It said the pipeline should be repaired by Monday, with full production resuming two days later.

“The wells’ recovery will be slow. They have to shut the wells down and reactivate them carefully,” he said.

Darwin Zahedy Saleh, the minister of energy and mineral resources, on Friday said he was confident that an increase in production — once it was resumed — could compensate for the losses and that the government would still meet its 2010 production target.

However, Rudi Rubiandini, an energy analyst and drilling expert from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), said that the lost production was likely to greatly exceed the government’s forecasts.

He estimated that fixing the underground pipe and returning oil production to normal would likely take more than two weeks, possibly even up to two months, depending on the extent of the damage.

“It will take a long time to fix the problem,” he said. “It depends on the damage to the pipe.”

Rudi added that there was little the government could do to reach its production target for this year.

“This is a huge loss,” he said, noting that CPI was one of the nation’s top oil producers, accounting for about 40 percent of total output.

The halt to production comes with oil companies already struggling to reach the government’s 2010 target of 965,000 bpd, a figure used to make revenue projections in this year’s state budget.

Production averaged 935,000 bpd during the first half of the year, and BPMigas last month said the government would sell three million barrels of crude oil from its stockpile to help meet the revenue target.

About 700 CPI wells and 400 wells operated by Pertamina-Bumi Siak Pusako, a unit of state oil and gas company Pertamina, were also shut down by the failure.

The problem began on Wednesday morning when a leak was discovered in the pipe operated by Transportasi Gas Indonesia. The pipeline, located at Indragiri Hulu in Riau, is used to supply natural gas to the field for drilling works and to generate electricity.

BPMigas first estimated Chevron’s lost production at 32,000 bpd, but that was already raised to 150,000 bpd by Friday afternoon.

CPI’s president director, Abdul Hamid Batubara, declined to set a timeline for a resumption in production.

“We are focused on fixing the pipeline so they [the wells] can function immediately. We are working with TGI to fix this,” he said.

Pri Agung Rakhmanto, an energy analyst with the Reforminer Institute, said he believed the breakdown would not affect the government’s 2010 production target, assuming the problem was fixed within several days. But he added that the target was unlikely to be met anyway.

“The leak is not the reason why the government can’t reach the 2010 oil production target,” he said.

Pri Agung said the incident at the aging Duri oil field should serve as a lesson that more attention was needed to develop new sources for the fuel.

“Optimizing existing blocks is not enough,” he said. “They have to develop more. But this takes time.”

West Sumatra gets first quake-proof building

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post, Padang | Fri, 10/01/2010 8:25 AM

The West Sumatra administration has begun rebuilding its main office using advanced earthquake resistant technologies, a year after the previous office was decimated by a powerful earthquake.

A cornerstone laying ceremony was held Thursday by West Sumatra Governor Irwan Prayitno and National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) head Syamsul Maarif, exactly a year after the province was hit by the 7.9-magnitude earthquake.

Head of the West Sumatra Road Infrastructure and Transmigration Settlement Office Dody Ruswandi said the administration would rebuild government facilities damaged in the quake using quake-proof construction technologies to ensure their survival in a quake, and so that they could double as refugee centers in the event of an earthquake.

“Since experts have concluded that Padang and the surrounding coastal areas are prone to quakes and tsunami, we must build vertical buildings as well as escape routes from the coast,” he said.

The four-storey building — dubbed as the country’s first Escape Building — would be completed in November next year.

The first two floors of the Rp 46 billion (US$5.1 million) building will be for offices, and the top two floors will serve as shelters for up to 3,500 people in the event of a tsunami.

The walls at the base of the building are designed to collapse inward in the event of a tsunami, leaving the supporting structure intact.

The building incorporates various quake-proof designs, many of which are used in Japan.

It is specially designed to withstand forces 0.5 times greater than gravity in accordance with building standards in Japan and higher than a new regulation for quake-proof buildings in Indonesia that requires a strength rating of 0.4 times the force of gravity.

“The first refugee building built in Indonesia is actually designed to withstand quakes of over 10 on the Richter Scale,” said Dody.

The technology, which has been used in Japan since 1995, will feature in three other new buildings – the Dr. M. Djamil General Hospital in Padang, the Public Works and Transmigration and Settlement Office and the governor’s main office building.

Last year’s quake destroyed 442 office buildings.

The total reconstruction cost could reach Rp 6.4 trillion, including RP 897.4 billion to rebuild the government offices.

New site focuses on quake-proof homes

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post, Padang | Wed, 09/29/2010 9:35 AM

The Australian government, through the Australia Indonesia Facility for Disaster Reduction (AIFDR), launched a website on quake-proof houses campaign it has been carrying out since early this year.

The launch of the website — www.rumahamangempa.net — coincides with the one year commemoration of the massive earthquake that hit West Sumatra on Sept. 30 last year, destroying 249,833 homes and more than 7,000 public facilities.

Australia’s Chargé d’Affaires to Indonesia Paul Robilliard struck a gong to mark the website’s official launch at the West Sumatra Cultural Park in provincial capital Padang on Tuesday. The event was attended by West Sumatra Governor Irwan Prayitno, National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s (BNPB) Disaster Prevention and Response Affairs deputy Sugeng Tro Utomo, West Sumatra Vice Governor Muslim Kasim and actress Jajang C. Noer, who played a role in the media campaign program.

Robilliard said the new campaign would also use social network mediums, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to disseminate the latest information.

“More people living in quake-prone areas such as West Sumatra can access important information by providing materials online,” he said.

The program, he added, was part of the Australian government’s commitment to help Indonesia minimize casualties and economic impact in the event of a disaster.

Robilliard said overall, Australia had provided A$15 million to assist the post-quake recovery, of which A$10 million had been used to rebuild 39 schools and community health centers.

Earlier at the ceremony, Robilliard and US Ambassador to Indonesia Scot Marciel signed a plaque for the reconstruction of the SD 19 state elementary school in Olo village, Nanggalo in Padang.

The school, which suffered extensive damage in the quake, was rebuilt at a cost of Rp 1.5 billion (US$165,000). The school, including 39 other schools, which were built by the combined efforts of the Australian and the US governments, are expected to be completed this year.

Marciel said his government had provided $12 million in assistance for quake mitigation efforts in West Sumatra.

“I’m relieved to see the school reconstruction has been implemented successfully,” he said.

Governor Irwan expressed gratitude for the assistance from the Australian and US governments.

He said the Padang quake devastated 1,078 schools of all levels. In the past year, only 402 schools have been rebuilt by domestic and overseas relief organizations, while 399 schools are still in the process of signing memorandums of understanding with various relief agencies.

“The remaining 263 schools have not yet been handled and will be built with special allocations from the municipal and the respective regency budgets,” Irwan said.

Dutch pump nominated for British innovation prize

RNW, 27 September 2010 | By Conny van den Bor

(Photo Auke Idzenga)

Dutchman Auke Idzenga has been nominated for the World Challenge 2010 for an ingenious water pump. He developed the idea in the Philippines where he lives. The machine pumps clean water high up into the mountains.

The pump is made of iron and uses parts that can be bought anywhere, like a door hinge or a car tyre. This makes it easy to maintain. It works on hydro power, so all it needs to generate electricity is a slope and a fast running stream.

Great heights

A large proportion of the water which passes through the pump can be transported to great heights.

"For every metre downwards, the pump can transport the water 20 to 30 times further, 24-hours-a-day. That is a lot of water.'

The World Challenge is an international competition for projects and companies which help local communities all over the world. Auke Idzenga feels deeply honoured. After being presented with the prestigious Ashden Award by Al Gore in 2007, he has now been nominated for the World Challenge by the BBC.

Clean drinking water

The invention has enabled Mr Idzenga's organisation AIDFI to supply clean drinking water to 150,000 people. People living high in the mountains used to have to make difficult trips every day to fetch water.

Mr Idzenga went to the Philippines to live more than 20 years ago. He came from a family of social activists. When he travelled to the far east as a radio operator on a ship, and saw the terrible poverty there, he decided to dedicate his life to the poor.

Hydraulic ram pump

He first became active in a trade union in the Philippines. The union set up the organisation AIDFI, Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation Inc, initially to support organic agriculture by applying simple technology which can be used anywhere.

"At technical college, I once worked on a hydraulic ram pump and it made a deep impression on me. When we set up AIDFI, I immediately remembered the pump. Back then the pumps were made of concrete, but I tinkered around with it until it was perfect and could be used anywhere."

Afghanistan

Meanwhile the pumps are being introduced in more and more countries. Laos and China have also joined the list. The most dangerous but also the most successful project was in Afghanistan.

"We built three installations there, under constant guard. Part of the job entails training local people to pass the technology on to others, so three Afghanis came to the Philippines for very intensive training."

The Afghanis then set up a shop and now they install pumps all over Afghanistan. The pumps enormously improve the quality of people's lives. People living in remote areas are able to wash themselves more frequently, which improves the hygiene. Cows and other livestock are healthier because they have access to water and people can grow their own vegetables. Some even sell their produce at markets. Mr Idzenga, "It is so rewarding!"

You can vote for Mr Idzenga's hydraulic ram pump project: The World Challenge 2010. The closing date for votes is 11 November. The award ceremony is on 4 December.