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Residents protest water shortages
Nana Rukmana , The Jakarta Post , Cirebon | Tue, 11/11/2008 10:57 AM | The Archipelago
Hundreds of residents in Cirebon staged a rally at the legislative building and mayor's office Monday to protest shortages in tap-water supply water during the past week.
The customers of the city's branch of the public water utility (PDAM) were dismayed by the false promises made by the mayor and legislators to address tap-water shortages in the city.
They demanded legislators be serious in carrying out their duties as people's representatives and be responsive by tackling the water crisis.
About 200 protesters from several residential areas in Cirebon said they had not received water from PDAM over the past week.
These neighborhoods have already been subject to a rotating schedule reducing access to piped water, despite residents' compliance in paying their monthly bills.
"We've received practically no water at all from PDAM in the past week and our water's been turned on at night only for the past three months. We want legislators and the mayor to be held responsible for the problem," rally coordinator Rifki said.
Rifki said residents had conveyed their grievance to the legislature and the municipality at the end of August, when both government branches had promised to see to the problem.
"They haven't followed through on their promises to fix this. We still face water shortages," he said.
The only council member who would meet with them was Djoko Purwanto from Commission C for people's welfare; other council members ignored the demonstrators.
Djoko promised the protesters the legislature would help them resolve the problem. "We will do our best so residents have rightful access to a dependable supply of clean water," Djoko said.
However, the meeting failed to appease the protesters. They instead urged Djoko to facilitate a meeting with Cirebon Mayor Subardi.
"We have lost our trust in the legislature. We want the legislature to facilitate a meeting with the mayor. We want him to keep the promise he made to take care of this water crisis," Rifki said.
Djoko eventually agreed to arrange a meeting with the mayor at Cirebon city hall. The residents were represented by 15 people.
Subardi apologized to the 15 for not being able to resolve the problem.
"I apologize to all Cirebon residents for the disruptions in the tap-water supply. I will do my utmost to immediately resolve the issue," said Subardi.
Subardi blamed the disruption on leaks in the network of pipes. "Many valves in the distribution pipes have been damaged, which has interrupted distribution. We need several days to overcome the problem," said Subardi.
He also promised to reprimand any PDAM officials carrying out their duties unprofessionally.
The protesters said they were still discouraged despite the apology. They said they would stop paying their bills if PDAM continued to render poor services.
Since the disruptions began, residents have been forced to buy water from hawkers at Rp 1,500 (16 US cents) per 20-liter container. They have been paying out up to Rp 20,000 daily to meet their water needs.
