T

he ongoing development of a drinking water system (SPAM) in Hutan Kota (urban forest) Penjaringan, North Jakarta, is expected to be complete by late 2019 and result in an additional 3 percent clean water supply coverage for low-income areas in West and North Jakarta.

City-owned water company PAM Jaya, which has been developing the system since 2017, said the SPAM would be able to provide 500 liters of water per second, potentially serving 30,000 residents who have yet to enjoy access to clean water.

PAM Jaya president director Priyatno Bambang Hernowo said the company would develop a 120-kilometer pipe to channel water from a water treatment plant (IPA) in Hutan Kota to Kamal Muara, Kamal, Pegadungan, Tegal Alur, Muara Angke and Muara Baru, among other areas.

“We are currently waiting for Jakarta’s one-stop integrated service [PTSP] agency to issue a permit for the development of the pipe,” Priyatno said Wednesday.

The project will cost Rp 450 billion (US$ 30.37 million), with the Jakarta administration allocating Rp 300 billion for the project in the 2017 city’s budget.

PAM Jaya has proposed to use an additional Rp 150 billion from the 2018 revised draft city budget.

Currently, Jakarta’s water pipes reach around 60 percent of its households, or 851,155 homes.

Jakarta’s rivers supply only 3 percent of the total demand for clean water as most of the 13 rivers that run through the capital are too dirty to process. This means the city must depend on other regions for its clean water.

Around 81 percent of Jakarta’s tap water comes from the Jatiluhur Dam in Purwakarta regency, West Java, and 16 percent from Tangerang regency’s state tap-water company (PDAM) in Banten province.

Priyatono said PAM Jaya was committed to ending its dependence on other regions by developing the technology to process clean water from rivers in the city.

The SPAM in Hutan Kota, for instance, will process water from the West Flood Canal into clean water. City-owned construction company PT Jakarta Propertindo (Jakpro) is still developing an IPA for the system, Priyatno said.

“The IPA has reached 80 percent completion.”

He added that after the SPAM in Hutan Kota, PAM Jaya planned to develop a similar system in Ciliwung and Pesanggrahan.

Construction of the Ciliwung and Pesanggrahan SPAM is estimated to reach Rp 250 billion and Rp 400 billion, respectively.

Priyatno said the firm aimed to serve 99.7 percent of Jakarta’s households by 2030, because the provision of clean water required intersectoral collaboration.

Cooperation with other regions and related ministries will surely take time, he added.

James Arifin Sianipar, a city councillor from the Nasdem Party, suggested that instead of asking the Jakarta administration to allocate money for the development of a SPAM, PAM Jaya should ask its operators to invest in the project. He was referring to PT Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja) and PT Aetra Air Jakarta.

“The agreement between Pam Jaya, Palyja and Aetra will end in 2023, meaning they will still receive profit from the cooperation until then. We suggest that PAM ask both companies to invest in the project,” James said.

Meanwhile, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has set up a team to prepare the water deprivatization as ordered by the Supreme Court in 2017.

The Supreme Court granted a cessation petition filed by the Coalition of Jakarta Residents Opposing Water Privatization (KMMSAJ), saying PAM Jaya’s cooperation with Palyja and Aetra was illegal because it gave water treatment authority to private entities.

The special team comprises 19 members, including 13 bureaucrats and six experts.

Water rights activist Nila Ardanie of the Amrta Institute and a member of the team declined to comment on the recommendations the team would give the Jakarta administration on the deprivatization.

“[The team] just start working and we have yet to make recommendations. We will reveal the information once we finish the recommendations,” she said.