[Kabar-indonesia] Water business thriving in Lampung [+Jambi's hot spots]

[Joyo at aol.com]

also: Dry spell blamed for rise in Jambi's hot spots

The Jakarta Post 
Saturday, August 5, 2006

Water business thriving in Lampung

Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung

The continuing water crisis in Lampung is a blessing for Nana Iryana and his 
spring in Telukbetung, Bandarlampung.

As residents look for other water sources as their wells dry up, a spring 
located in Nana's home has continued to produce water for many years.

And luckily for them, the 40-year-old man says he is committed to selling his 
water at an affordable price.

Every day, Nana has hundreds of customers and more come during the dry season.

"Since the dry season hit, many residents buy clean water here, coming from 
as far as Tanjungkarang and Rajabasa. Some come in their own cars," he said.

The water business was started by his parents in 1968 and gained its name, 
Air Suteng, after the area.

He said back then, clean water was taken one bucket at a time until three 
water pumps were set up in 2002.

The water also attracted people from the city and those living near Lampung 
Bay, where groundwater has become salty because of seawater intrusion.

The water is sold at reasonable price, between Rp 1,000 and Rp 2,500 
(US9-22c) a container, depending on the location it is taken from.

He has 46 delivery men that each pay him Rp 1,500 a day, earning Nana an 
income of more than Rp 2 million a month.

>From his home, Nana sells a container of water for Rp 500.

"Buyers who come to my house usually come from far away but in one day I sell 
up to 300 containers, earning me up to Rp 150,000," he said.

That income might be not high but Nana is happy that he can provide people 
with employment. "Besides, water is God's gift that my parents bequeathed to 
me," Nana said.

For water delivery men like Nurkocin, the job was a blessing, allowing him to 
earn up to Rp 500,000 a month.

"This job allows me to send my two children to elementary school. And I hope 
I can send them to high school too," said the man, who has been working with 
Nana for four years.

However, Nurkocin said he feared the increasing number of residents with 
access to tap water would mean the business lost customers.

"Many customers now have tap water in their homes, so they only use the air 
suteng to drink or cook. Before that they used the water to wash clothes and 
bathe," Nurkocin said. 

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The Jakarta Post 
Saturday, August 5, 2006

Dry spell blamed for rise in Jambi's hot spots

Jon Afrizal, The Jakarta Post, Jambi

The number of fires burning in Jambi has increased over the past day, with 
the lack of rain in the area aiding in spreading fires in forested and 
plantation areas.

Satellite data from the North Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 
showed Friday the presence of 158 hot spots in the province, up from 141 on 
Thursday.

The fires are located in eight of the province's 10 regencies and 
municipalities, Bungo, Batanghari, Tebo, Merangin, Sarolangun, Muarojami and the West and 
East Tanjungjabung regencies, while Jambi city and Kerinci regency remain 
unaffected.

Sarolangun, with 67 hot spots, is the worst hit regency, followed by Tebo, 
where 49 fires are burning in preserved and commercial forests, palm oil 
plantations and community farmlands.

More than 600 hectares are believed to be on fire.

"Ninety percent of the fires are the result of human error," local Forest and 
Land Fire Control Center spokesman Suparman said Friday.

He said the fires had begun in July and had continued to spread on a daily 
basis.

"This is due to land clearing activities carried out during the dry season," 
said Suparman.

Environmentalists and government officials have said that they country's 
forest fires are usually caused by humans clearing forests for plantations. 
Burning is the easiest and cheapest way to destroy a forest.

More recently, environmental groups have raised concerns that some farmers 
are being paid by logging and plantation companies to clear land.

Suparman said a team of firefighters from the provincial office of the 
Forestry and Environmental Impact Control Agency, the Natural Resources Conservation 
Center and environmental group Manggala Agni had been prepared.

Manggala Agni alone has mobilized 220 of its members. The fire fighting team 
is equipped with two fire engines and 400 meters of fire hose. They will be 
assisted by regency forestry offices and a number of privately owned plantation 
companies.

Data from the Forestry Ministry shows that last week, almost 2,000 fires were 
recorded on Sumatra, half of which were in Riau. Another 1,000 hot spots were 
seen in Kalimantan.

The data is based on satellite images that also show hots spots in Malaysia 
and other neighboring countries. Peninsular Malaysia recorded 128 fires, while 
another 26 were found in Sabah, the Malaysian part of Borneo. The images also 
showed 70 fires in Thailand. 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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