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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