Our beloved rivers of waste

Alexandra Hansen, Contributor The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 02/09/2010 11:40 AM

Home by the river: Residents perform various house chores in their homes located along the Ciliwung River in Jakarta. Millions of people rely on the river for their daily water needs. JP/Ricky Yudhistira

Standing on the bank on one of Jakarta’s many rivers, the experience is much the same across the board. Nothing you would hope for in a river is present in the city’s 13 main canals.

Clear water, the peaceful babble, trees and native flora lining the bed, native wildlife in and around the water and children paddling amongst the leaves have all been replaced by rubbish, disease-causing bacteria and pollution.

Standing on the edge of any of Jakarta’s canals is saddening; what once would have been a beautiful and serene place, is now a bed of pollution and the cause of illnesses such as typhoid, dysentery, cholera, E.coli-poisoning and amoebiasis.

So what has caused the rivers to become so polluted, and the water so unusable?

We have.

Many factors lead to water pollution of this extent, one of the main ones being sewage.

The water canals in Jakarta are largely used to flush human sewage, increasing the level of E.coli in the water, thus making it unfit for human consumption.

The nitrates and phosphates found in sewage, and in fertilizers, also lead to an over-stimulation in the growth of aquatic plants such as algae. An excess of algae clogs up the waterways, uses up dissolved oxygen as it decomposes, and blocks light to deeper waters. This in turn is very harmful to aquatic organisms such as fish, as it inhibits their respiratory ability.

Another factor contributing to water pollution is the large amount of rubbish and waste deposited into the river by inhabitants of the riverside.

All of the above are known as municipal pollution, pollution caused by homes and commercial establishments.

Add to those factors industrial pollution. Large amounts of industrial waste are deposited into the river system every day, allowing hazardous substances to flow freely in our precious water.

Garbage river: Two workers comb through garbage in the Ciliwung River. The piles of garbage found in the river contribute to the city’s annual flood problem. JP/P.J. Leo

Last, but not least, agriculture plays a significant role in polluting rivers. The erosion caused by crops devastates the river systems, and is the leading cause of water pollution in countries such as the US.

Chandra Samekto, a project officer for the Citarum River, says the problems are widespread and caused by many different factors.

“For the Citarum River especially, the problem is quite serious. This river is integral to Jakarta’s water supply and is a very strategic source to all of West Java.”

One of the main tasks of the Citarum project is to identify why the condition of the river is degrading, and what can be done to improve the situation.

“We have spent a lot of time researching and identifying the problems in the Citarum River, and have discovered that each segment has a different problem. For example, upstream, the problems are caused by industry. Adjacent to the river is a coal treatment plant, and the waste from materials used to treat the coal is dumped into the river. In the middle section of the river however, the main problem has to do with people’s sanitation habits. They dump waste and garbage, which is detrimental to the water quality.”

When asked whether the situation has improved recently, Samekto says the results are not promising.

“We definitely think the situation is getting worse.”

He adds it is very important we address the problem, and put more effort into improving the quality of the rivers, and in turn, the water quality in Indonesia, as the quality of the water could be a limiting factor to Indonesia’s economic development.

Double work: A woman washes clothes while taking care of her child on a wooden pontoon along the Ciliwung River. JP/P.J. Leo

“It is important that we as a society recognize the problem, and realize it is worsening, as perhaps this way people will make an effort to improve it.”

The Citarum River project has up to 80 plans in motion to improve the river, with an estimated cost of Rp 45 trillion (US$4.8 billion).

Plans include new water treatment facilities, water site management strategies, upstream conditioning and septic tanks.

Also included in their plans is System Rice Intensification (SRI), a program aimed at using less water when cultivating rice crops, for the same or better yield of crop.

In conjunction with these plans, it is important people do their bit in caring for their rivers and water canals.

“People do care,” says Samekto.

“But they need to collaborate with us, and replicate our actions. We hope to get support from everyone, and become a movement of sorts. If everyone knows the issues involved, if people realize the problem, we can help them change their behavior, and change [the behavior of] companies.

“The only way to do this is by creating awareness, by educating people. For example, a simple step to take is to stop littering in the rivers, dispose of your rubbish carefully,” he says.

The message is simple, and is known the world over, yet it seems somehow more difficult in practice.

“Yes, it is easy to see, but it will take more time to change people’s behavior.”

Best City is still dirty and noisy

Ni Komang Erviani, The Jakarta Post, Ubud | Mon, 02/08/2010 10:51 AM | Bali

The once quiet village of Ubud was just named the Best City in Asia, defeating Singapore, Beijing and Tokyo, but a large number of visitors to the city still find it dirty and noisy.

Jan Hansesen, together with 10 friends from Denmark, was spending a four-day holiday in Ubud, around 40 kilometers north of Denpasar.

Before arriving in Ubud, the group were holidaying in Hong Kong and at the Nusa Dua resort complex in Badung regency, Bali.

“People from all over the world say Ubud is a nice place, so we wanted to visit and enjoy it,” Hansesen said, adding that the group loved staying in Ubud where people were kind and friendly. They also felt secure walking along Ubud’s narrow streets.

However, issues of sanitation and the environment made him deeply concerned.

“Garbage is scattered all over the place. Plastic and wastepaper is everywhere. If you want to have tourists, you must clean the place,”

he said. Hansesen was not alone. Many tourists shared similar feelings. Two Spanish friends, Gabriel Pla and Eduard Bascunan, had come all the way from Spain just to visit the famous Ubud village.

“We wanted to see the most important place in Bali. So I chose the royal temple and Ubud market,” said Gabriel who stayed at a hotel in Nusa Dua. After only a few hours in Ubud, they found the village too crowded and dirty. “I just arrived here and already feel like it’s very crowded,” the Spanish man said. However, the beauty and unique architecture of Ubud’s palaces and temples to some extent healed their bad feelings about the place.

“It’s a nice place. But I think you have to solve the traffic problem. If you were named the best city, you must make improvements here and there,” he said.

US-based travel magazine Condé Nast Traveller once named Ubud the best city in Asia based on readers’ choices. Ubud obtained the highest score (Ubud gained 82.5 compared to Singapore with 79.6 and Shanghai with 75.9).

The nominations were based on a number of indicators including the city’s ambience, art and culture, lodgings, restaurants, local residents’ friendliness and shopping facilities.

Ubud is not a city by any Western terms. It is a small village growing into metropolitan tourist destinations with a sprawling number of restaurants, villas and hotels. The rapid growth of tourist facilities in Ubud was not in line with the progress in infrastructure development.

The roads are winding and narrow fit only for one-way traffic. Parking lots are not available, forcing cars and other vehicles to park along the narrow streets. Roads are filled with holes. Some government-sponsored projects have frequently disrupted the busy traffic. Most of the sidewalks are not designed or constructed properly and this makes it difficult for people to use them. But in particular, Ubud is dirty and noisy.

Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana, the patron of Ubud Royalty who is also the regent of Gianyar, responded positively. “We must immediately improve all public facilities in Ubud,” the regent said.

“Our first priority is to regulate traffic flows in Ubud and to provide adequate parking spaces,” he said.

The local authority would also regulate the construction of shopping facilities including advertisement boards as well as the construction of large-scale villas and hotels. “We feel we are living in a big, glittering shopping city, not in an art village,” Ardhana said.

There are around 250 small hotels and 10 luxury hotels and villas in Ubud. “Many are operating without the necessary permits,” he added.

A cleanliness program would be the hardest part of the changes for Ubud administration to tackle. “It is very difficult to build a clean culture. We will never give up, however, to create a clean and safe Ubud.”

News focus: Indonesian floods affecting thousands

Antara News, by Andi Abdussalam, Sunday, February 7, 2010 08:38 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The current rainy season in Indonesia has caused floods in many parts of the country where thousands of houses have been inundated and their tenants forced to evacuate or trapped on the roof tops of their houses.

Until this weekend, the floods have affected residents in Jakarta, Banten, West Java, Central Java, East Java, West Sumatra, Riau, South Sulawesi and other provinces.

In West Java alone, at least 6,000 houses were still flooded on Saturday, in various West Java districts such as Garut, Tasik Malaya, Indramayu, and Bandung.

In the West Java town of Garut, for instance, a 40-to-100-centimeter-deep floods submerged some 350 houses and destroyed shops. Head of Garut Kota suburb Nurdin Yana said the floods submerged Regol, Ciwalen, and Kota Wetan villages.

The floods were caused by the rise of Cigulampeng River`s water level after torrential rain showered Garut for more than an hour. The river overflowed due to garbage that clogged several stream sections.

Thousands of people were evacuated. To help the needy, local government distributed staple food, Head of Garut suburb`s social welfare, workforce and transmigration office, Elka Nurhakimah said meanwhile.

Also worst hit on Saturday was West Java`s Bandung district. At least 6,000 houses in Baleendah, Dayeuhkolot and Bojongsoang subdistricts were flooded Hundreds of Baleendah residents were `trapped` in the lofts and on the roofs of their houses after a flood submerged their region in Bandung District on Saturday.

The flood was worse than those that hit Baleendat before, Hani (40), a resident of Cieunteung village, said.

Local Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) officers and villagers jointly rescued and evacuated people marooned in or atop their houses using rubber boats.

"We need more boats to evacuate them," Gunawan, an Andir resident, who joined the rescue efforts, said.

Floods triggered by incessant heavy rains and the overflowing of the Citarum River, inundated Baleendah and Dayeuhkolot with the flood waters reaching a height of between 50 cm and 2 meters.

The Banjaran - Baleendah - Dayeuhkolot - Bandung road was cut off due to the inundation. Flood waters up to one meter deep had submerged the main road and a gas station.

In Tasikmalaya district, the flood was not as bad as that in Bandung because the number of houses affected only ran into the hundreds. In Tuguraja village for example, only tens of houses were affected.

Empud Saefuddin (55), a resident of Tuguraja, said on Saturday that the flood occurred after incessant rain. Flood water affected residents` houses because the gutter and drainage system did not function well.

He said this weekend`s flood was the second worse after the one that hit the village in 1974.

Last Sunday, heavy rain and strong winds hit Indramayu district and uprooted a banyan tree near an elementary school. Several class rooms were also submerged under the floodwater.

"Floodwater submerged the Singaraja elementary school at a height of up to 70 centimeters. As a consequence, students had to help clean up their class rooms," said Danesih, a Singaraja elementary school teacher. The flood water inundated urban areas of Indramayu for at least three days. Traffic was affected as a number of main roads were under water, he said.

Resdiential areas around Indramayu`s square, in the Margalaksana, Margadadi and Paoman areas were also flooded.

In Central Java, the district of Kudus was also hit by floods this week. A flash flood inundated tens of houses at Sadang village, Jekulo sub district, Kudus District as Logung River dike burst up to tens of meters.

The flood started at around 4.30 local time as the right dike of Logung River burst reaching a length up to 20 meters, Ngasmani, Sadang villager, said. As the consequence, tens of houses at the village were submerged by floodwater mixing with mud and solid waste. The floodwater reached a height of up to 50 cm in Ngasmani`s house.

Last January, flash floods swept through two villages in Banyumas, inundating at least 21 houses. "The 21 flooded houses are located at Besuki village. I don`t know how many houses at Lumbir village were flooded," Lumbir subdistrict head Alex T Manurung said. The flash floods were caused by the overflowing of Lopasir river and Ciaur river, he said.

In the meantime, in East Java`s district of Madiun, tens of houses in Balerejo subdistrict, Madiun district, East Java, were flooded on Friday after the Moneng river overflowed.

The floods inundated 34 houses at Banaran village and seven houses at Pacinan village, Balerejo subdistrict head Edy Riswantoro said.

He said the floods also affected five hectares of rice field at Banaran and seven hectares of rice field at Pacinan. The floods were caused by the overflowing of Moneng river following hours of heavy rains on Thursday night.

"The water level in flood-affected areas is ranging from 40 centimeters to 1 meter. The flood water began inundating the houses at around 04.00 a.m.," Edy said.

By Friday evening, knee-deep water still inundated a number of places at the two villages. "We hope the flood water will recede soon because it disturbs the local people`s daily activities," he said.

In Sumatra, floods also inundated 200 houses in Koto Panjang Minturun areas of Koto Tangah suburb, West Sumatran capital city of Padang on Friday. The one meter-deep floods were triggered by torrential rains showering Koto Tangah suburb for two and half hours, residents said.

According to Coordinator of West Sumatran Province`s Disaster Recovery Division Ade Edwar, the people whose houses were submerged had been evacuated to safer places.

"The floods also submerged tens of hectares of fields," Edwar said.

Some displaced people had returned home after the depth of the flood waters gradually got reduced. Despite this, he asked them not to go out at night for the sake of their safety. "As a result of the September 30, 2009 earthquake, some roads of Padang city are damaged and vulnerable to landslides," he said.

Rain has also continued to fall this month in Dumai city of Riau province in Sumatra. Thus, floods that have affected the city resettlements and residents` oil palm plantations have not yet receded.

"Since in the past several weeks, he have been using boats to harvest and transport our oil palm fruit," Susanto (43), a local oil palm farmer said.

In the meantime, last month, floods claimed two lives in Barru district of South Sulawesi. The two were working on their rice field when flash floods hit the area. While in Kolaka, South East Sulawesi Province, the death toll in a flood that swept through Batu Ganda village in North Kolaka district, reached 10, including a 2-year-old child.

Data from the Kolaka search and rescue (SAR) post show 26 houses were carried away by strong water currents, 45 houses were heavily and seven others lightly damaged.

City's green spaces not a priority, says planner

Irawaty Wardany, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 02/06/2010 1:02 PM

Increasing Jakarta's green spaces is not a priority for the city administration, which focuses more on transportation and housing, a spatial planning expert says.

Yayat Supriatna, a spatial planner from Trisakti University said recently that providing enough green space would fully depend on commitment from the city administration, as the mission to green the city would be held back by the high price of land.

Green areas have long been an issue in the thriving metropolis of Jakarta, and some observers have said the lack of green spaces makes the city less livable.

The administration also needs to encourage private companies to get involved in greening Jakarta, similar to the recent corporate social responsibility programs (CSR) undertaken in Cakung district, North Jakarta.

The densely populated area of Cakung has geared up to transform its image as a slum area inundated by rain in wet season and dust in the dry season.

On Wednesday, the restoration of some 16 kilometers of the area began as part of a CSR program.

"We have been working on the green area by redesigning and reorganizing the space since November last year," said Handoyo, the communications manager of the developer company PT Mitra Sindo Sukses, adding the company had provided Rp 1 billion (US$106,951) for the CSR program that would cover restoration and maintenance expenses for a year.

Handojo said the company had cooperated with district officials, public order officials and the police on the program.

In 1965, more than 35 percent of Jakarta was made up of green areas, but this has been shrinking ever since. Currently, green areas in Jakarta account for only 9.3 percent of the city's 661,000 square meters of land, far less than the target of 30 percent set by the 2007 Spatial Planning Law.

Jakarta Planning Board head, Nurfakih Wirawan, said it would likely maintain the 13.94 percent target to improve green areas in its 2010-2030 spatial plan, saying the government's target of 30 percent was "unrealistic".

Nurfakih said the modest target was set because the city wanted to make sure the target was achievable.

He mentioned that land acquisition was one of the problems it faced in attempting to create more green spaces in the city.

Disaster Experts Share Lessons for Haiti

The World Bank,

February 3, 2010

Haiti’s damaged National Palace.

• Bank staff involved in Indonesia’s tsunami recovery say government-led plan, community-based reconstruction are critical.
  
  
• Speed is essential in months following a disaster; local networks help expedite recovery.
  
  
• Tracking and coordinating post-disaster aid helps government, partners make key decisions.
  
  
  

February 3, 2010 —While the magnitude of the human toll and economic losses in Haiti has yet to be established, many experts on the ground, including World Bank specialists, are looking at lessons learned from managing the recovery after other natural disasters.

For example, the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 wreaked massive destruction, killing 200,000 and displacing half a million people in Aceh, Indonesia, alone. But out of that experience may come hope for Haiti, say World Bank experts who helped Aceh recover.

World Bank Social Development Specialist Scott Guggenheim entered Aceh four days after the tsunami hit. He wanted to make sure people working on his community-based project were safe, and see what he could do to get the devastated Indonesian province on the road to recovery.

“I gathered about 45 of them. They were really shell-shocked. But they were also glad for the chance to meet up,” he says. “We spent the morning talking about what had happened. I asked them if they wanted to get involved in reconstruction, and they all said yes.”

So began a grass-roots effort to rebuild Aceh, village by village—and at the same time restore normal lives.

“In conflict and disasters, one of the best ways to get started with rebuilding is to get communities involved in reconstruction first of all, because we need their help to rebuild—but also because they’re disoriented, shocked and traumatized,” says Guggenheim.

Community-based reconstruction—as opposed to using contractors to rebuild disaster-stricken areas—is one of several approaches World Bank disaster experts say may work in Haiti as it faces the daunting task of recovering from the earthquake.

The island nation lost more than 100,000 people. Much of Haiti’s capital city was destroyed in its worst-ever natural disaster. Many government employees were among the dead.

As the relief effort in Haiti continues, a multilateral team that includes the World Bank is preparing to assess the country’s damages, losses and needs, setting the stage for recovery and reconstruction.

The challenge is great, but World Bank’s Country Director for Indonesia, Joachim von Amsberg, writing in the Washington Post, says Aceh yields three major lessons for Haiti: 1) local and national leadership count, 2) empowering people and communities is key to success, and 3) coordinating global aid is critical.

World Bank experts who have responded to eight large natural disasters in the last 12 years offer additional insight into strategies that might work in Haiti.

Their advice:

• Move quickly to develop a government-led plan for recovery and reconstruction that is also flexible enough to adjust to changes on the ground. Keep things simple.
• Don’t give organizations responsibilities that they cannot handle.
• Think about sequencing reconstruction from the beginning.
• Restore livelihoods, education, economic activity, and a sense of normalcy as soon as possible.
• Be as transparent as possible and invest in communicating information to local stakeholders.
• Closely monitor reconstruction funding and activities.
  
  

Speed Is Important

When Aceh’s government was decimated after the tsunami, a group of World Bank specialists including Guggenheim, Aniruddha Dasgupta, Jehan Arulpragasam, Joel Hellman, Susan Wong, and Wolfgang Fengler worked with the Bank’s full country team and regional management to develop a strategy that could move reconstruction forward without large-scale government action at the outset.

The strategy valued speed over detailed planning. It asked villages to assess roughly what had been destroyed and identify their boundaries. Grants were provided to communities in phases, the first for basic needs, and subsequent grants for reconstruction. The program was up and running three months after the tsunami, says Guggenheim.

“Bank aid can be quick—and it was quick in Aceh—if you have local networks you can plug your systems into,” adds Wolfgang Fengler, a Bank economist who helped the government of Indonesia establish a new agency in 2004 to manage the reconstruction of Aceh.

That network was provided by a large, community-driven development program run by the government, which the Bank had supported since 1998. It was one of the few development programs operating in isolated Aceh prior to the tsunami.

Haiti has similar community-based programs financed by the World Bank: PRODEP in 59 rural municipalities, and PRODEPUR in urban areas, including six of the poorest and most severely affected disenfranchised neighborhoods near Port-au-Prince.

Bank staff in Haiti and Washington are working on an urgent action plan that is responding to the needs of the communities in the affected areas. Some 4,000 community-based organizations (CBOs) on the ground will play a key role in delivering supplies as well as in clean-up and reconstruction, says Ayat Soliman, the Bank’s lead on the two projects. More than 600 CBOs have already been inventoried and are poised to participate actively in the relief, recovery and reconstruction efforts.

“Speed in a post-disaster situation is as important as planning, and to some extent even as important as quality,” says Fengler.

“Don’t get hung up on detailed planning exercises. Help the government come up with a reconstruction strategy, but don’t make it too long an exercise or a detailed one. Make it a living document.”

In Aceh, adds Guggenheim, “I think that it mattered a lot that right from the beginning the Bank had a fairly substantial field office up and running. Opening an office and staffing it with core staff sent a really clear signal to the government that we were rolling up our sleeves and getting to work with them, not just sending in teams of fly-in, fly-out consultants. They said this to us over and over again.”

Restoring Livelihoods, Creating Jobs a High Priority

Past experience also shows that restoring livelihoods and creating jobs for the victims of disaster is a high priority and has become “automatically part of an early recovery period,” says Fengler.

The importance of empowering local people and communities is one of the key lessons the World Bank has learned, according to Pamela Cox, the Bank’s Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean.

“Victims can become development workers, aid recipients can turn into community facilitators, and displaced people can rebuild their own future,” Cox said at the January 25 Montreal Ministerial Conference on Haiti.

Cash grants, often referred to as cash transfers, can also help in the first months after a disaster, not only to help victims buy the things they need, but to regenerate economic activity and “help people return to some level of normalcy in the midst of all this chaos,” says Bank economist Tara Vishwanath.

Vishwanath designed cash transfer programs for Sri Lanka after the 2004 tsunami and for Pakistan after a 2005 earthquake that killed 73,000 people and left 2.8 million without shelter and more than a million without jobs as winter approached.

Coordination and Monitoring Are Critical

With aid from multiple sources expected to flow into Haiti (including $100 million in grants from the World Bank, as well as another $200 million redirected from existing projects), it’s critical that recovery and reconstruction efforts be well-coordinated.

“Haiti needs the talents, resources and energy of all: bilaterals, multilaterals, NGOs, and the private sector, among others,” Cox said in Montreal. “To be effective, they must not waste the scarce resources of the government of Haiti and of local institutions.”

In Aceh, the Bank’s office and on-site presence became a “de facto multi-stakeholder coordination mechanism on some of the non-humanitarian development issues that would later matter a lot for the development part of reconstruction,” says Guggenheim.

The Bank team communicated a constant stream of real-time, field-based information to senior management that allowed them to make quick decisions on how to deal with problems on the ground in the beginning of the recovery effort, he adds.

Such close monitoring and communication are key to successful reconstruction, says Fengler. The effort requires on-the-ground tracking and skillful aggregation of data, he adds.

“If you have the thousands of projects that Haiti will have, you need to have somebody who tracks them and makes sense of them. Keeping track of them is not through an IT system, it’s through people who know how to deal with data. And that is very important, because as you go forward, the government and partners will take many big decisions, especially on where to allocate the money and how to channel it. You need some basis to make these big decisions, and credible data proved crucial in the case of Aceh.”

The world’s response to the 2004 tsunami resulted in billions in pledges, prompting the establishment of a special $7 billion trust fund for the damaged regions. The fund pooled contributions from 15 countries and organizations, increasing efficiency and saving affected governments transaction fees.

But the trust fund also served as a strong forum for policy dialogue, says Fengler.

“The Multi-Donor Fund had two major achievements. First, it pooled funds and thus reduced the transaction costs for government markedly. Second, it provided a high-level forum for the government and development partners to discuss policy issues and take stock of the overall reconstruction program on a monthly basis.”

In Haiti, “the government does not have the time to attend multiple meetings to allocate resources. One coherent information system would help them dramatically,” emphasizes Disaster Management Specialist Francis Ghesquiere, who is leading the post-disaster assessment mission in Port-au-Prince.

Related Articles:

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Out of Aceh's experience, hope for rebuilding Haiti

Robert Zoellick: How to Rebuild Haiti

From Rebuilding to Revitalizing: Five Years After the Tsunami - Building Capacity for a Stronger Future in Aceh and Nias

Muara Baru Residents Taking Palyja To Court Over Dismal Water Services

Jakarta Globe, Ulma Haryanto, February 04, 2010

Hundreds of residents crammed into trucks are ferried through the streets of Muara Baru during a flood. (Photo: JG)

Sumarti, a mother of five from Muara Baru, North Jakarta, cannot believe how bad she has it.

Unemployed, like her husband, she still manages to sell cosmetics once in a while to ensure that she can buy eight jerry cans of water — costing Rp 12,000 ($1.30) — daily to wash, clean, cook and drink. She has been doing this every day for six years, she told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday.

On days she cannot afford the price, she says she collects rainwater for cooking and cleaning.

“It is normal for the children to suffer from diarrhea. I have been a resident of Muara Baru for 40 years but I have never had it so bad. It enrages me how Palyja [water operator PT Pam Lyonnaise Jaya] has tricked us with this kind of poor service,” Sumarti said. “Our water stopped flowing six years ago. The company still charges me. We pay. I still have all my water bill receipts to prove it.”

Her family is one of at least 220 households in the neighborhood scheduled to file legal action against Palyja. Muara Baru is home to 800 households.

The suit will be filed via the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, with help from the People’s Coalition for Water Rights (KruHa), a nongovernmental organization conducting the painstaking job of visiting every family in the village to inquire about water services.

Sumarti said her frequent complaints to Palyja were met with numerous excuses.

“One day it’s road repairs. Another day it’s something else,” she said.

Muhammad Reza Sahib from KruHa said the city must investigate the company over its abysmal service.

“Why has Palyja been allowed to operate?” Reza said, adding that KruHa investigations had found that at least “16 hydrants have been illegally installed throughout the village to siphon off and divert water actually meant for residential pipelines.”

“These hydrants are operated by local thugs. They sell the water to residents for Rp 2,000 per jerry can,” Reza said.

“Locals said that after they complained to Palyja, water trucks were sent. But the neighborhood community chief sold the water to residents,” Reza said.

Meyritha Maryanie, a Palyja spokeswoman, said it had held meetings with residents. “Only later I learned those who had complained never attended the meetings. Temporarily we can offer water tanks. Muara Baru is just so complex,” she said.

C Aceh earthquake damages 28 schools

Antara News, Wednesday, February 3, 2010 03:17 WIB

Banda Aceh, Aceh (ANTARA News) - The January 28 earthquake that rocked Central Aceh damaged at least 28 schools, forcing thousands of students to stay at home, a government official said.

The natural disaster also caused local residents and government to suffer material losses totaling Rp73.784 billion (1US$=Rp9,450), the district government`s spokesperson, Windi Darsa, said here Tuesday.

The temblor damaged at least 28 schools and 600 houses, he said.

The earthquake measuring five on the Richter Scale jolted the greater areas of Central Aceh and Bener Meriah districts , about 300 kilometers from Banda Aceh, on January 28.

The tremors caused minor and serious damage to hundreds of houses and tens of schools but nobody was hurt.

"The displaced people are temporarily sheltered in other people`s houses that had remained intact," he said.

Darsa said thousands of students had yet to return to school because their class-rooms had also been damaged.

"Keeping the students at home is the best option because we do not have tents to make emergency class rooms," he said.

The earthquake happened a week ago but the Aceh provincial government had yet to supply locals with tents for building emergency class rooms for the ill-fated students, he said.

Like many other parts of the Indonesian archipelago, Aceh is prone to earthquakes.

On December 26, 2004, the province`s capital city was rocked by a powerful earthquake, which was followed by tsunami.

More than 200,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands of others lost their homes.

Jakarta city to set up fire-fighting academy

Antara News, Tuesday, February 2, 2010 20:11 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Jakarta city administration plans to set up a fire-fighting academy to improve the quality of the national capital`s anti-fire human resources, a spokesman said.

The academy would admit students from anywhere in the country and educate them up to Diploma III level.

"In the future, this academy will hopefully become a model other regions in the country can emulate to obtain competent and skilled fire fighters," Paimin Napitupulu, head of Jakarta cirty`s fire-fighting office, said here Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters after receiving a delegation from the Malaysian fire-fighting agency at his office, he said the Jakarta city administration would cooperate with the Malaysian fire-fighting agency and three Jakarta universities to compose the curricula and find the teaching staff for the planned academy.

It would be located in Ciracas, a suburb on Jakarta`s southern outskirts in an area that was formerly used for basic military training.

Paimin said the academy was needed to solve Jakarta`s chronic shortage of trained fire-fighters which now stood at about 4,000 men.

At present the city`s fire-fighting department had a force of 2, 847 men whereas the ideal number to serve Jakarta`s population of 10 million was about 7,521 men, he said.

The shortage of fire-fighters was evident in the field where a fire truck that normally should be manned by six men was in reality operated by only three men, Densely-populated Jakarta is rather prone to fires mostly caused by short circuits in inadequate or sub-standard power line installations.

In January 2010 alone, a total of 47 fires broke out in the Indonesian capital. As many as 30 of the fires were caused by electricity short circuits and total material damage was estimated to total Rp11.31 billion.

The January fires made 437 people or 35 families homeless, killed one person and injured seven others.

Bali to host Live Earth concert in April

Avril Holderness-Roddam, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 02/02/2010 6:51 PM | Arts and Entertainment

Bali will host Live Earth: Run for Water 2010 concert in April that will feature local and International artists who will donate their time to raise awareness of the importance of making clean, safe water available to all people.

Participants in the Run for Water event can enrol to run or walk for six kilometers (the approximate distance walked daily by many women and children around the world in order for them to collect water) on the day, April 18.

During the press conferense celebrities and other people involved with the event discussed the importance of providing suitable water to communities and commented that the way to improve the sistaution is through public awareness and public education.

Celebrities present included Slank, DJ. Anton and the present Puteri Indonesia, Qory Sandioriva. You can find out more about Live Earth at the official website: http://liveearth.org/en/. JP/ Avril Holderness-Roddam

Govt to probe villas built in Halimun-Salak national park

The Jakarta Post, AP, Jakarta | Tue, 02/02/2010 6:00 PM | Jakarta

Government officials say they are investigating how 180 luxury villas came to be built in a protected natural forest.

A Forestry Ministry spokesman said Tuesday the mansions were built on 250 hectares of the Halimun-Salak National Park in West Java.

The "Heart of Java" nature area is home to more than 100 streams and endangered Java eagles and gibbons.

Local media reported that the homes are likely owned by senior government officials and could be destroyed.

Indonesia's vast forests are rapidly being destroyed by land clearing for plantations, mining and other commercial development.

New green rating system set to improve buildings

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 02/01/2010 11:29 AM

Eight major property developers in Greater Jakarta are hoping to obtain green building certification for newly built properties, a member of Green Building Council Indonesia (GBCI) says.

“They want us to certify the new properties they have just built before selling them,” Tiyok Prasetyoadi, one of the founders of the council, said in Jakarta at a recent seminar on green buildings.

The eight are Agung Podomoro Group, Springhill Group, Ciputra Group, BSD City, Intiland Development, Summarecon, Agung Sedayu and Pikko Group. Tiyok also mentioned that another company, Artha Debang, located in Medan, North Sumatra, was also hoping to obtain certification.

The certification would increase the value of the properties, he said.

“A green building provides a positive image of its owner and developer. It expends less energy and uses materials with better durability. These things can all increase the market value of properties,” he said.

The council is currently developing an official rating system for the assessment of green buildings, which it hopes to finalize by March or early April this year.

Under the greenship rating system, buildings are assessed based on six criteria: the appropriateness

of site development; energy effi-ciency and refrigerants; water conservation; indoor air health and comfort; and building environment management.

Tiyok said that so far he had not found any office building in Jakarta that fulfilled all of the criteria.

“Most office buildings in the city are not designed to save energy and preserve water. However, these buildings can still gain marks in our rating system if the building management are willing to educate their employees and tenants,” he said.

Environment Ministry nature conservation deputy director Masnellyarti Hilman said the government would support the system.

“The government is still providing subsidies for water and electricity. However, because of budget constraints and the depletion of our coal and oil in the following years, I believe these subsidies will no longer be provided,” she said.

Previously the council had said that making green buildings required an increase in investment of between 6 and 7 percent, on average. However, this investment was expected to pay for itself within three years. (mrs)