[Kabar-indonesia] Jakarta to face drinking water shortage by 2010: Company spokesman

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

Jakarta to face drinking water shortage by 2010: PAM Jaya

JAKARTA July 3, (Asia Pulse/Antara) -- Jakarta is expected to face a
shortage of drinking water by 2010 unless new water installations are
built, a spokesman said.

"To date the regional drinking water company (PAM Jaya) only has 
six water installations consisting of one in Pejompongan, one in
Pulogadung and two in Buaran. The company has a total production 
of 18,160 liters per second to serve an estimated 700 thousand
subscribers or equivalent to four million people," the company's
spokesman Ifie S. Laili said on Monday.

At present PAM Jaya served nearly 60 per cent of the capital's
population of 10 million, while the rest consumed ground water, he
said.

"The growing population which is expected to swell to 15 million by
2010 will make it difficult for PAM to meet demand for drinking
water," he said.

To meet the growing demand PAM Jaya has purchased water from 
theTangerang drinking water company and the Jatiluhur dam, he 
said.

"If the social behavior of the Jakarta residents remains as it is or
all activities are centered in Jakarta, the capital is most likely to
face a clean water crisis," he said.

Since the company was inaugurated in 1977 its total clean water
production had not been in proportion to the population growth, he
said.

He called for the government to build a number of new water
installations through the Public Works Ministry to help avoid future
clean water shortages.

"Ideally, the new water installations are built in suburban areas like
Cibubur to keep down production cost because the water has not 
been contaminated," he said.

------------------------------------------
Joyo Indonesia News Service
------------------------------------------