Will Jakarta Be The Next Atlantis? Excessive Groundwater Use Resulting From A Failing Piped Water Network

Law
Environment and
Development
Journal
LEAD
WILL JAKARTA BE THE NEXT ATLANTIS? EXCESSIVE GROUNDWATER

USE RESULTING FROM A FAILING PIPED WATER NETWORK
Nicola Colbran
ARTICLE
VOLUME
5/1
LEAD Journal (Law, Environment and Development Journal)

is a peer-reviewed academic publication based in New Delhi and London and jointly managed by the
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ARTICLE
WILL JAKARTA BE THE NEXT ATLANTIS? EXCESSIVE
GROUNDWATER USE RESULTING FROM A FAILING
PIPED WATER NETWORK
Nicola Colbran
This document can be cited as

Nicola Colbran, Will Jakarta be the Next Atlantis? Excessive Groundwater
Use Resulting from a Failing Piped Water Network,
5/1 Law, Environment and Development Journal (2009), p. 18,
available at http://www.lead-journal.org/content/09018.pdf
Nicola Colbran, Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, PO Box 6706 St Olavs Plass, NO-0130 Oslo, Norway,
Phone Number: +47 2284 2069, Email: [email protected]
Published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 License
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.
Introduction
20
2.
The Politics of Piped Water and History of Groundwater Use
20
3.
Why Hopes for a Privatisation-Led Shift to Piped Water Failed
23
4.
The Effect of Excessive Groundwater Use on Groundwater

Levels and Jakartas Natural Environment
26
5.
Reform and Action by the Government: is it Enough?

5.1 Regulatory reform
5.2 Public awareness campaigns
5.3 The need for adequate surface water
5.3.1 Quality of raw water supplied to the network
5.3.2 Capacity of the network to treat and distribute water
29
29
33
34
34
35
6.
Conclusion
36
Law, Environment and Development Journal
INTRODUCTION
Historically, piped water in Jakarta was intended to serve
selected residents, industries and businesses in
accordance with the politics of the era. Whether to
segregate between races under the Dutch colonial
government, to indicate modernity under first president
Soekarno, or to support economic development under
second president Soeharto, the supply of piped water
has favoured few and left many without access. Those
that are connected frequently complain about the low
quality of water supplied, the quantity and continuity
of the water, the level of water pressure and high water
tariffs. Groundwater, on the other hand, has for centuries
been a cheap and reliable water source. The result is
that many households in Jakarta, as well as industry,
business, luxury apartment complexes and hotels do not
connect, and are not connected, to the piped water
network. They instead use alternative water sources and
distribution methods in particular groundwater. The
impact of this on groundwater levels and Jakartas natural
environment is unsustainable. Excessive and unlicensed
groundwater use is causing significant land subsidence,
pollution and salinisation of aquifers, and increased
levels of flooding in Jakarta. It is also lowering the water
table, making it increasingly difficult for the estimated
70 per cent of households that rely on groundwater for
their daily needs to access the groundwater.
This article examines the connection between a failing,
selective piped water supply and groundwater use. It
describes the political history of Jakartas piped water
network and the reasons consumers do not, or are unable
to, connect to the network. It outlines the link between
this failure to connect and the increasingly excessive and
unlicensed groundwater use in Jakarta, and its effect on
groundwater levels and Jakartas natural environment.
It discusses and assesses current legal and policy reform
to address this impending environmental disaster, and
asks whether the government is committed to providing
a reliable, commercially viable alternative water source
to groundwater.
20
THE POLITICS OF PIPED WATER

AND HISTORY OF GROUNDWATER
USE
The city of Jakarta is criss-crossed by thirteen rivers
and flood channels and has a rich supply of
groundwater. Its residents (now estimated to be 12
million) have for centuries relied on groundwater as an
important source of water for household, business and
industrial purposes. However, historically the importance
of groundwater has not been reflected in law or
government policy. Nor has effective groundwater
management been a high priority. The emphasis of
groundwater regulation has been on exploitation rather
than sustainable use, and little value has been attributed
to groundwater. Its economic, environmental, social and
cultural value has not been adequately recognised by
the government or by consumers.
Instead, successive governments have focussed on piped
water, although adequate universal coverage has not been
a priority. Rather, levels of access and quality of piped
water have reflected the politics of the various
administrations. This has influenced consumer choices
and preference for water sources, and has in fact
encouraged the use of alternative sources and
distribution methods, in particular groundwater.
Prior to the construction of Jakartas first piped water
network, Jakartas population relied on different
combinations of river water and shallow groundwater
for its water supply. However in 1870, the Dutch colonial
government began constructing an artesian water
network intended for use by European residents living
in the small developed central area of the city. As a
result of this exclusion, the local population continued
to rely on surface waters for all of their water supply
and sanitation needs as it was the most affordable and
convenient water source. Artesian water supply was only
made available to local populations at the turn of the
Jakarta - Drinking Water Supply
century when it was extended minimally to local

residents through artesian hydrants.1
Following considerable debate over the need for
increased water production from a more favourable
source, in the 1920s the Dutch government developed
a spring water piped network, which expanded on the
existing infrastructure. Again the supply was intended
to predominantly serve the European residents of
Jakarta and was seen as essential based on scientific
discoveries of the connection between drinking water
consumption and health. European residents with
household connections paid half the price for water than
did local residents who used public hydrants and so
Europeans used most of the water supplied through
the network. Local households again continued to rely
on other cheaper water sources for economic reasons
and convenience.2 The use of these other sources also
prompted the view that local residents were undeveloped
as they used traditional sensory assessments to determine
water quality without reference to new scientific
discoveries.3 The continued use of non-piped water
sources was seen by the colonial government as
temporary solutions for the local population who were
not yet fully modern.4
The piped water network built by the Dutch was badly
damaged during the four year battle for independence
from 1945-1949, and could not meet the demand for
water as Jakartas population increased.5 Soekarno,
Indonesias charismatic first president, had a vision for
1 Four public hydrants were installed for over 116,740
residents. See Michelle E. Kooy, Relations of Power,
Networks of Water: Governing Urban Waters, Spaces, and
Populations in (Post)Colonial Jakarta 53 (Unpublished PhD
thesis, University of British Columbia, 2008).
2 Id. at 55, 56, 142.
3 Sensory assessment of water is still used to determine water
quality. For example, a taxi driver interviewed on 28 October
2008 stated that to test the quality of water, he makes a cup
of tea and examines the colour of the tea.
4 See Kooy, note 1 above at 83.
5 Jakartas population increased dramatically during this time,
rising from 8,00,000 in 1945 to 3.15 million in 1965. See S.
Soetrisno, Groundwater Management Problem:
Comparative City Case Studies of Jakarta and Bandung,
Indonesia, in John Chilton ed., Groundwater in the Urban
Environment- Selected City Profiles 63 (Rotterdam: Balkerna,
1999) and Demographia, World Metropolitan Areas Over
50,00,000: Population Change from 1965: Total, Core &
Suburbs, available at http://www.demographia.com/dbworldmetro5m-1965.htm.
Jakarta as a modern, progressive, independent city which

would be demonstrated by grand public monuments and
highly visible infrastructure projects. The new
government began rehabilitating existing water network
pipes in elite residential areas and constructing water
treatment plants. With superior modern water treatment
technology, Jakarta could utilise surface water rather than
rely on artesian or distant spring water.6
Two new water treatment plants, completed in 1957 and
1966 respectively, increased the volume of water
available to Jakartan residents by almost ten times the
amount circulating during the colonial era.7 However,
there was little increase in the number of residents who
had access to the piped water, but rather an increase in
the volume of water that a minority of residents could
access. During this period, no money was invested in
improving access for informally settled low-income
areas, not even through basic infrastructure such as
public hydrants. By the end of the 1950s, around 80 per
cent of the population continued to rely on sources other
than piped water, such as increasingly polluted
groundwater, rivers and canals.
During the Soekarno era, the legal approach to water
was reflected in the 1945 Constitution, which stated that
water was to be controlled by the State and used for the
greatest benefit of the people.8 However in practice,
politics guided the distribution and expansion of the
piped water network to the elite. Groundwater was not
a government priority.
From 1965 to the late 1980s, following the violent
transition from Soekarnos Old Order government to
Soehartos New Order, the government expanded the
network to assist and sustain industrial economic growth
and to supply upper class residential areas that were
politically supportive of the New Order.9 This was in
line with Soehartos vision for Indonesia of economic
development and social stability. During this period,
improvements focused on the expansion of the network
with a priority of construction, not rehabilitation; the
construction of two additional large scale water
6 The citys new water treatment plants changed the bulk of
the source of water supply from mountain spring water to
treated surface water taken from the citys flood canals.
8 Indonesian Constitution 1945, Article 33(3).
9 See Kooy, note 1 above at 68, 70 and 149.
21
treatment plants; and new investment into small-scale

treatment plants. Water supply production capacity
increased threefold, however distribution of the water
through the piped network was extended to less than
one-quarter of the citys population, and covered less
than half of the urban area.
In spite of Soehartos vision favouring industry and elite
residential areas, in 1995 more than 70 per cent of
industries in Jakarta used groundwater either because
piped water supplies were inadequate or because it was
substantially cheaper to do so. For the same reason, many
upper class residential areas also did not connect to the
network or use piped water in spite of being connected
to the network. PAM Jaya, Jakartas regional water supply
company, acknowledged at the time that it could supply
barely 60 per cent of the citys daily demand of 1.7
million cubic metres of water.10
Little was done during the Soeharto era to service the
urban poor in spite of unprecedented sustained
economic growth rates that averaged nearly 6 per cent
per year from 1975 to 1996.11 Those without access to
piped water (nearly 80 per cent of the population) then
either built their own shallow groundwater wells or
connected to other households wells, or paid up to 20
per cent of their monthly income for water from public
hydrants.12 Sewerage systems were non-existent, a legacy
of a government policy treating sewage as a private
concern.13
In 1990 it was estimated that the amount of piped water
consumed by residents in Jakarta was 128 million cubic
10 Michael Richardson, Water Woes Threaten Growth in
Indonesia, New York Times, 26 June 1995, available at http:/
/www.iht.com/articles/1995/06/26/water.php.
11 Paul McCarthy, Understanding Slums: Case Studies for the
Global Report on Human Settlements 2003. The Case of
Jakarta, Indonesia, World Bank, 2 (2003) available at
www.ucl.ac.uk/dpu-projects/Global_Report/pdfs/
Jakarta.pdf.
12 Karen Bakker et al., Disconnected: Poverty, Water Supply
And Development In Jakarta 11 (United Nations
Development Programme, Human Development Report
Office Occasional Paper, 2006), available at http://
hdr.undp.org/en/repor ts/global/hdr2006/papers/
bakker_et_al1.pdf.
13 Id. at 11. Less than two per cent of households in Jakarta
are connected to a sewerage system and the majority of
wastewater is disposed directly to rivers, canals, or to often
poorly functioning septic tanks. Id. at 14.
22
metres per year. However, the un-served and underserved residents of Jakarta abstracted almost twice this
amount, between 200-250 million cubic metres per year
of groundwater.14 By the 1980s, concerns were growing
over water quality in shallow groundwater. The lack of
an effective sewerage and waste collection system was
contaminating groundwater, in certain areas
groundwater depletion and/or salinisation had occurred,
and reported cases of water-borne diseases rose.15
Decades of uncontrolled groundwater abstraction had
also changed the hydraulic situation in Jakarta from a
relatively undisturbed stage to a stage of exhaustion.16
During this time, water laws cemented and elaborated
on the basic principles set out in the Constitution. The
government passed Law No.11/1974 on Water
Resources Development17 which expanded on the
Constitution by stating that the use of water from its
source for household purposes is free of charge and
has no licence requirements. This principle was further
elaborated in Government Regulation No.22/1982 on
Water Management which set out that the use of water
for public drinking water is a primary priority; that
everyone has the right to use water as a primary necessity
of life; that a licence is not required for this water usage,
nor does it have to be paid for.18 In spite of these
requirements in law in relation to the use of water from
its source, in practice the piped water network was
developed and expanded to support industrial growth
and to supply upper class residential areas that were
politically supportive of the New Order government.
Groundwater management was outside the scope of
Law No.11/1974, which was limited to the quantity
management of surface water. The responsibility for
groundwater management lay with the Department of
Energy and Mineral Resources as groundwater was seen
mainly as a mining resource and not as a renewable
14 See Kooy, note 1 above at 90-91.
15 See Bakker et al., note 12 above at 11.
16 Urban Groundwater Database (Information Supplied by
Haryadi Tirtomihardjo, Directorate of Environmental
Geology, Bandung, Indonesia, 2 July 1996), available at http:/
/www.scar.utoronto.ca/~gwater/IAHCGUA/UGD/
jakarta.html.
17 Law No.11/1974 replaced the Dutch General Water
Regulations of 1936. Law No.11/1974 contains 17 Articles
and is a framework Act with further elaboration in
implementing regulations.
18 See Articles 13-29 of Government Regulation No.22/1982.
resource. Regulation of groundwater consisted of

guidelines with an emphasis on the technical aspects of
groundwater extraction. The historical emphasis of
groundwater regulation was therefore on exploitation
rather than sustainable use.
As both the piped and non-piped water quality in Jakarta
continued to decline, the citys water supply increasingly
created serious problems for human health and the
environment, and hindered economic development and
poverty alleviation. Private sector participation was seen
as the best solution to address the decline in Jakartas
piped and non-piped water and ultimately to assist in
the transition from a predominant use of groundwater
to piped water.
WHY HOPES FOR A PRIVATISATIONLED SHIFT TO PIPED WATER

FAILED
Prior to privatisation, Jakartas centralised piped water
network had numerous problems. These included a
water supply distribution network that was not capable
of distributing the available water; limited water
coverage; poor water quality; high levels of unaccountedfor-water; inequitable access to piped water; and a
regional water supply company that was inefficient and
underperforming.
In January 1998, two 25 year contracts for the
management and expansion of Jakartas water supply
system were awarded to Thames Water International
(United Kingdom) and Ondeo (Suez-Lyonnaise des
Eaux) (France). Jakarta was split in half, using the
Ciliwung River as the dividing line and Thames was
awarded the eastern half of Jakarta and Ondeo the
western half. The contracts were signed with PAM Jaya
(the Jakarta regional water supply company) which
retained ownership of the water supply assets.19 The
two companies promised to improve water production,
19 The contracts were renegotiated in 2001 following the

devastating Asian financial crisis of 1998.
reduce water losses, increase the number of connections,

improve service coverage ratio, increase the volume of
water billed and improve the service standards. PAM
Jaya agreed to assist the two companies to force the
closure of deep wells 20 where piped water was
available.21 The two private water companies also signed
a Memorandum of Understanding in 2004 that required
them to supply clean water in order to minimise
groundwater use.22
However, according to Achmad Lanti, the former Chair
of the Jakarta Water Supply Regulatory Body,23 the
private companies are as inefficient as the previous public
utility they replaced. Their only incentive is to improve
the bill collection system and shut down illegal private
wells. The companies have no incentive to improve the
system as a whole and have not met key performance
targets set out in their contracts.24 In spite of this underperformance, water tariffs in Jakarta are reportedly the
highest in Indonesia. This bleak picture impacts on the
quality, quantity and continuity of Jakartas piped water,
and on the willingness of consumers to connect to the
network.
Most households base their choice of water source and
distribution methods on the least cost solution that meets
20 Deep wells are defined in the Contract as those wells that
require groundwater permits under the provisions of DKI
Jakarta Regulation No.10 of 1998, as amended and replaced
(see Article 1.1 of the Contract).
21 See Articles 9.2(b) and 12 of the Contract.
22 Mustaqim Adamrah, Palyja, Aetra Boost Supply, Reduce Use
of Groundwater, Jakarta Post, 9 July 2008, available at http:/
/www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/07/09/palyja-aetraboost-supply-reduce-use-groundwater.html.
23 The Jakarta Water Supply Regulatory Body was established
to independently monitor and regulate water policies and
tariffs at the macro level, supervise the private water
companies on behalf of the Governor of Jakarta and the
Ministry of Public Works, and mediate disputes between
PAM Jaya (the Jakarta regional water supply company) and
the two private companies. This was provided for in the
revised contracts signed by the private companies in 2001
and subsequently in a regulation issued by the Governor of
Jakarta. See Schedule 20 of the Contract for a draft of
Keputusan Gubernur Propinsi Daerah Khusus Ibukota
Jakarta Pembentukan Badan Pengatur Pelayanan Air Minum
(Decree of the Provincial Governor of the Special Region
of the Capital Jakarta regarding the Regulatory Body).
24 International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Water
and Politics in the Fall of Suharto (February 2003), available
at http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/vines/4301/
water04.html.
23
their basic needs. If piped water cannot meet their basic

needs, households will not connect (or advocate for
connection) to the network, or they will not utilise the
network even though it is connected to their residence.
In 2005, official estimates of the number of households
connected to the central network ranged from 46 per
cent to 56 per cent. 25 However, if informal (and
therefore illegal) settlements are included, only an
estimated 25 per cent of Jakartas 12 million habitants
are actually connected.26 These figures also do not
differentiate between households that want access to
the piped water and those that have opted out of the
network in favour of other alternatives. A significant
number of households choose not to connect to the
centralised network or are in fact connected but are zero
consumption customers.27 In 2006, there were 110,000
zero consumption households, or around fifteen per cent
of network customers. Data from PT PAM Lyonnaise
Jaya (Palyja), the private water operator in the western
half of Jakarta, shows that in its operating area, 86 per
cent of the zero consumption customers simply chose
to rely on other water sources28 such as deep and
shallow groundwater wells with filters, pumps, and pipes,
and bought bottled water.
There are several reasons why piped water is not the
least cost solution that meets the basic needs of
households. A high initial expenditure for connection
fees and additional charges added to the monthly bill29
can mean that the total cost of piped water is more
expensive than informal water supply methods.30 The
25 See Bakker et al., note 12 above at 13. However, Indonesias
Report on the Achievement of Millennium Development
Goals (83, 2007) states that 63 per cent of Jakartas
population is connected to the piped network. See Ministry
of National Development Planning, Report on the
Achievement of Millennium Development Goals, Indonesia
2007 (Jakarta: Ministry of National Development Planning,
2007), available at http://www.undp.or.id/pubs/docs/
MDG%20Report%202007.pdf.
27 Zero consumption customers are customers who are
connected to the piped water network and pay monthly
connections fees and other costs, but do not use the piped
water.
29 Monthly bills also include more than charges per unit volumes
of water consumed. Additional charges such as the meter fee
and a fixed charge are also included in the monthly bill.
24
initial connection fee affects the urban poor in particular,

with connection fees more than a months minimum
wage, often to be paid in a lump sum. Many poor
households have irregular incomes, making this up-front
connection fee prohibitive. Connection fees are also
more expensive the further the dwelling is from the piped
network.31 Poor households are more likely to be in
areas without networks or in areas of lower network
density.32 Methods of payment for monthly bills are
also not convenient for low income households, with
payment by internet or by automatic teller machine
transfer a common method of payment. However, many
low income households do not have bank accounts or
internet connections in their homes.
Informal settlements face additional legal obstacles to
connection. Access to public services in Jakarta is
contingent on two requirements. To connect to the
network, residents must have state recognised residency
for Jakarta and legal occupation of land documented
by the State. The former takes the form of a Personal
Identification Card which pre-supposes government
permission to live and work in Jakarta33 and the latter
means that residents must have a certificate for the land
on which they live, indicating a State sanctioned right to
live on or use the land. Many poor households do not
have such certificates, either because they forgo the
formal registration process, are renters of poor quality
housing, or are illegal squatters of unoccupied public
or privately owned land. In other cases, residents just
do not have certificates to prove legal occupation of
the land.34 They are therefore considered to be illegal
occupiers of the land, even though many have lived or
worked on the land for years, have paid for the land,
and have electricity and in some cases telephone
31 Connection fees are approximately Rp.10,00,000 (USD 100):

interview with KRuHA (Peoples Coalition for the Right to
Water), 11 November 2008.
33 See for example Article 56 of Jakarta Government Regulation
No.8/2007 on Public Order which states that every person
intending to live and settle in Jakarta must have, among other
things, d. skills and qualifications; e. a guaranteed place
of abode and guaranteed employment.
34 There are over 80 million land parcels in Indonesia, of which
only 17 million are currently registered. See World Bank, Land
Policy, Management and Administration, (Washington:
World Bank, 2005); Human Rights Watch, Condemned
Communities: Forced Evictions in Jakarta (New York:
Human Rights Watch, 2006).
connections provided by State owned corporations. The

result is that many of the citys lowest income residents
do not qualify for public water supply services,35 and
must seek water supply from alternative sources such
as groundwater.
Aside from expenses and difficulties in regard to
connection, there are also ongoing additional expenses
as a result of the low network pressure for all
households. Low pressure and intermittent water flow
requires financial costs for storage containers and
pumps, and physical space to store the containers and
pumps. 36 Jakarta is a city with an extremely high
population density and many residents do not have the
money or the space for such additional requirements.37
In the area of Pluit and Ancol in North Jakarta, water
provided by Palyja only flows between 2 am and 4 am
and if residents do not stay awake to collect water to
store in the early hours of the morning, they are forced
to purchase water from hydrants or water vendors at an
increased price. Consumers must still pay Palyja for their
piped water connection. This is the case even for wealthy
households in the area, who install pumps on the piped
network to ensure they are able to access piped water.
However, in some cases even they are unable to extract
the water from the piped network, but are charged
anyway because when the pumps suck air not water,
the water meters continue to register water
consumption.38
35 This is contrary to the requirement that no households

should be denied the right to water on the grounds of their
housing or land status: United Nations Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment
15 (The Right to Water), UN Doc. E/C.12/2002/11,
para.16(c). Indonesia ratified the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 2005 and is
discussed further below. It is also contrary to the statement
by Indonesias Constitutional Court that a persons need
for water does not depend on their residence: Judicial
Review of the Water Resources Law (No 7/2004) No 058059-060-063/PUU-II/2004 and 008/PUU-III/2005, at 488.
37 In 2003, it was estimated that five per cent of Indonesias
210 million people lived in Jakarta which is only 0.03 per
cent of Indonesias total land mass. See McCarthy, note 11
above at 3.
38 Dari Saluran Tersendat sampai Sambungan Liar (From
Blocked Pipes to Illegal Connections), Kompas, 9 May 2005,
available at http://westjavawater.blogspot.com/2005/05/
dari-saluran-tersendat-sampai.html.
Water tariffs are also high, recorded as the highest in

Indonesia.39 Since privatisation in 1998, tariffs have risen
dramatically, increasing by fifteen per cent in February
1998, 35 per cent in April 2001, 40 per cent in April
200340 and 30 per cent in January 2004.41 In early 2004
it was determined that there would be a regular increase
of tariffs every six months until 2007 without the
previously required approval by the Jakarta regional
parliament.42 In 2007, the increase was ten per cent,
and Palyja has submitted a proposal to the Jakarta
administration to increase water tariffs by an average of
22.7 per cent in 2009.43
39 Sutiyoso Ngotot Naikkan Tarif Air Minum (Sutiyoso
Refuses to Increase Water Tariffs), Suara Pembarahuran, 4
Febr uary
2006,
available
at
http://
www.suarapembaruan.com/News/2006/02/04/Utama/
ut01.htm. See also Anonymous Jakarta, Tarif Air-nya
Tertinggi di Kawasan Asia Tenggara (Jakarta, Water Tariffs
the Highest in Southeast Asia), 2008, http://
w w w. l i n t a s b e r i t a . c o m / B i s n i s / Ja k a r t a _ Ta r i f _ A i rnya_Tertinggi_di_Kawasan_Asia_Tenggara.
40 PT Thames Pam Jaya (at the time majority owned by Thames
Water International) and Palyja (majority owned by Suez)
threatened to break their contracts if the price increase was
rejected. If they pulled out, PAM Jaya would have been liable
for a Rp.3 trillion (USD 362 million) penalty fee under the
contracts. The fee was to reimburse the companies costs
and losses, as well as to pay 50 per cent of projected profits
for the remainder of the contractual term. See Bill Guerin,
Indonesia: How Not to Privatize Water, Asia Times, 19
November
2003,
available
at
http://
w w w. g r e a t l a k e s d i r e c t o r y. o r g /
111903_great_lakes_privatization.htm and Bambang
Nurbianto, PAM Jaya Could Face Rp. 3 trillion Fine for
Any Contract Termination, Jakarta Post, 17 November 2003,
available at http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2003/
11/17/pam-jaya-could-face-rp-3t-fine-any-contracttermination.html?1#1.
41 Damar Harsanto, City Administration Quietly Raises Water
Rates by 30 Percent, Jakarta Post, 6 January 2004, available
at http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2004/01/06/cityadministration-quietly-raises-water-rates-30-percent.html.
42 Surat DPRD DKI Jakarta Nomor 550/-1.778.1 tanggal 23
Juli 2004 (Letter of the Jakarta Province Regional Parliament
Number 550/-1.778.1 dated 23 July 2004).
43 Anonymous, Water Quality Tops Complaints in Consumer
Survey, Jakarta Post, 22 December 2008, available at http:/
/www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/12/22/waterquality-tops-complaints-consumer-survey.html. According
to Palyja Commissioner Bernard Lafronge, this is in
accordance with the 20 per cent inflation rate of the past
two years; Agnes Winarti, Palyja Seeks Rate Hike, Vows
Investment, Jakarta Post, 8 January 2009, available at http:/
/www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/01/08/palyja-seeksrate-hike-vows-investment.html.
25
The low quality of piped water is a further disincentive

for rich and poor households to connect to the network.
Many residents doubt the quality of piped water,44 seeing
no significant difference between the water quality of
piped water and groundwater sources (excluding North
Jakarta, a poorer, more water deficient area in Jakarta,
where the groundwater is brackish and cannot be used
for household purposes).
There is good reason for Jakartan residents to be
suspicious of the quality of piped water. As a result of
delayed network rehabilitation and negative pipe
pressure, the vacuum within network pipes allows
wastewater (pipes flow through wastewater gutters and
storm drains) to be sucked into the pipes, contaminating
the water supply. A 2004 research report by the Ministry
of Health indicated that only 46 per cent of the piped
water samples in Jakarta met its requirements for clean
water standard.45 Residents can also see and smell the
poor quality of the water. For example in Penjaringan
in North Jakarta, piped water is brown-black in colour
and sometimes mixed with dirt and mud.46
Many Jakartans are therefore ambivalent about piped
water as it is costly, unreliable and does not provide
noticeable benefits when compared with groundwater.47
On the other hand, groundwater is free, excluding the
cost of subsidised electricity used to pump the water;
the quality is sufficient for most household uses; and
Jakartans have relied on groundwater as a source of
water for over a century.
44 The Indonesian Consumer Foundation (YLKI) receives 70
complaints from residents about tap water each month:
Agnes Winarti, JICA Offers Administration System to Test
Water Quality, Jakarta Post, 22 January 2009, available at
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/01/22/jicaoffers-administration-system-test-water-quality.html.
45 See Kooy, note 1 above at 177-178. The Decree from the
Ministry of Health No. 907, 2002 defines drinking water as
treated or untreated water that meets health requirements and
can be drunk directly. Clean water is defined as water used
for daily needs, which meets health requirements and can be
drunk after being boiled. See Ministry for Peoples Welfare,
Indonesia Progress Report on the Millennium Development
Goals 80 (Jakarata: Ministry for Peoples Welfare, 2004).
46 Kucuran Air Hanya Bisa Dinikmati Pukul 24.00, PAM
Kecewakan Warga Jakarta Utara (Water Flow Can Only be
Enjoyed at Midnight, PAM Disappoints North Jakarta
Residents), Harian Terbit, 24 May 2005, available at http://
westjavawater.blogspot.com/2005/05/kucuran-air-hanyabisa-dinikmati-mulai.html.
47 Interview with taxi driver, 12 November 2008.
26
However, it is not only households that experience

problems with Jakartas centralised piped water network.
As recently as the end of 2008 the government
acknowledged that it cannot provide surface water
adequately,48 and is only capable of supplying 54 per
cent of the water needs of Jakarta.49 Such problems
mean that business and industry also demonstrate a
strong preference for groundwater and drill deep wells
to access a cleaner, cheaper and more reliable source of
water. In recent years, the level of extraction has become
excessive and groundwater theft is common.
With households, businesses and industry relying to a
large extent on groundwater, concern then turns to what
effect this is having on groundwater levels and Jakartas
natural environment. As discussed below, this is having
a devastating effect.
THE EFFECT OF EXCESSIVE

GROUNDWATER USE ON GROUNDWATER LEVELS AND JAKARTAS
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
As discussed above, groundwater has always been an
important source of water for Jakartans, and about 70
per cent of the population continue to depend on it,
while the majority of industries in the Jabotabek area50
also rely on groundwater for their water.51 Certain
government departments also encourage the use of
48 Acknowledgement of PAM Jaya, which is the government
party to the water supply contracts, reported on TvOne in
its news story Krisis Air Tanah (Groundwater Crisis) on Apa
Kabar Indonesia (Whats News Indonesia), 31 October 2008
[hereafter Groundwater Crisis].
49 Berlebihan, Eksploitasi Air Tanah (Excessive, Exploitation
of Groundwater), Suara Pembaruan, 18 November 2008,
available
at
http://digilib-ampl.net/detail/
detail.php?row=&tp=kliping&ktg=airminum&kode=7975.
50 Jabotabek is the term given to the metropolitan area
surrounding Jakarta. The area consists of Jakarta (as a
province on its own) and the three surrounding regencies
of Bekasi and Bogor in West Java and Tangerang in Banten,
including the cities of Bogor, Bekasi, and Tangerang.
51 Seventy per cent of industry relies of groundwater as its
water source. See Groundwater Crisis, note 48 above.
groundwater as an alternative source of water to piped

water. For example, the Jakarta Mining Agency advocates
deep wells as solution to the citys lack of centralised
network coverage and service quality, and in 2007, it
advocated that 20 new wells should be drilled so that
groundwater could be taken from depths of at least 250
metres to ensure water security in the dry season. In 2007
the Agency mapped out areas in need of wells,
prioritizing areas with little or no access to piped water.52
This excessive level of groundwater use is exacerbated
by the failure to replenish groundwater at a sufficient
rate. In 1995 industries, hotels and private consumers
in Jakarta were drawing more than 300 million cubic
metres of groundwater a year,53 which was about three
times the rate that the aquifers were being replenished.54
Since these figures were measured, the problem of nonreplenishment has increased as massive buildings and
concrete take over natural drainage sites, green areas
and open spaces, and human waste and rubbish clogs
waterways.55 Freshwater floods now surge up from the
ground during the rainy season and rainwater flows
straight into the sea, making no contribution to
groundwater.56
However, it is the urban poor that are often blamed for
exacerbating flooding and for blocking natural drainage
52 Adianto P. Simamora, City Water Crisis Could See Deeper
Wells Dug, Jakarta Post, 18 August 2007, available at http:/
/www.thejakartapost.com/news/2007/08/18/city-watercrisis-could-see-deeper-wells-dug.html.
53 At this time, 3020 deep private wells were registered in
Jakarta, but nearly 88 per cent of the total groundwater
abstraction wells were unregistered. See Nur Endah Shofiani,
Reconstruction of Indonesias Drinking Water Utilities:
Assessment and Stakeholders Perspectives of Private Sector
Participation in the Capital Province of Jakarta 5
(Unpublished Masters thesis, Royal Institute of Technology,
Stockholm, 2003).
54 See Richardson, note 10 above.
55 Jakarta is criss-crossed by thirteen rivers and flood channels
that were built by the Dutch colonial government to alleviate
flooding. However, the channels are ineffective when it rains
as they are clogged by garbage dumped into the channels by
the citys residents and there has been no proper maintenance
of the channels for 25 years. See Geoff Thompson, Jakarta
in Jeopardy, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 23
September 2008, available at www.abc.net.au/foreign/
content/2008/s2368261.htm.
56 Editorial, Water Scarcity, Jakarta Post, 5 April 2008, available
at http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/04/05/
editorial-water-scarcity.html.
sites, green areas and open spaces in the city, and for
dumping rubbish into waterways. As a consequence, the
city government has stepped up the pace of forced
evictions of illegal settlements and places of business
in the name of public order and opening up green areas.
Jakarta Government Regulation No.8/2007 on Public
Order permits the forced eviction57 of persons who
live or construct dwellings or places of business on green
areas, parks, public places, and riverbanks among other
areas.58 A recent example of this increased pace of
forced eviction is in North Jakarta, where it is estimated
that 24,000 families will loose their homes in the near
future to make way for green areas designed to absorb
rainfall and prevent chronic flooding. However, it has
since been determined that the cleared area will be turned
into an international sports stadium, two out door soccer
fields, a jogging track and urban forest site.59 No massive
buildings (namely luxury hotels or apartment complexes,
factories or shopping malls) built on green areas and
natural drainage sites have been demolished.
With the increasing extraction of groundwater, water
levels have dropped by one to three metres a year during
the last ten years and are locally at 20 to 40 metres below
mean sea level.60 In some areas, this is even more severe,
for example, the groundwater level in the Mega
Kuningan business area in South Jakarta is dropping by
five meters per year.61 The increasing extraction levels
also contribute to rising levels of groundwater
57 Forced evictions are defined as the permanent or temporary
removal against their will of individuals, families and/or
communities from the homes and/or land which they
occupy, without the provision of, and access to, appropriate
forms of legal or other protection. See United Nations
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
General Comment 7: The Right to Adequate Housing (Art.
11.1 of the Covenant): Forced Evictions, para.3, available at
h t t p : / / w w w. u n h c h r. c h / t b s / d o c . n s f / ( S y m b o l ) /
482a0aced8049067c12563ed005acf9e?Opendocument.
58 See Articles 6, 12(c), 13(1), 20 and 36(1) of Jakarta
Government Regulation No.8/2007 on Public Order.
59 NGO Urges a Humane Eviction of 24,000 Squatters in
North Jakarta, Jakarta Post, 19 September 2008 and Tifa
Asrianti, BMW Park Gets Rp.4b for Design, Assessment,
Jakarta Post, 2 Januar y 2009, available at http://
www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/01/02/bmw-parkgets-rp-4b-design-assessment.html.
60 See Tirtomihardjo, note 16 above.
61 Mustaqim Adamrah, New Groundwater Fees Set for
Jakarta, Jakarta Post, 28 March 2008, available at http://
www.thejakar ta post.com/news/2008/03/28/newgroundwater-fees-set-jakarta.html.
27
salinisation caused by seawater intrusion: where

groundwater is replenished, it may instead be replenished
by salt water intrusion or by polluted surface water which
seeps into the soil. The seawater intrusion also damages
the piped network through corrosion.
Groundwater abstraction has also been identified as the
main cause of observed land subsidence in Jakarta,
which has now reached critical levels.62 As Jakarta
develops, notably involving the construction of more
luxury hotels, apartments and shopping malls,63 the city
gets heavier, which with the combination of
groundwater extraction and the creation of vacuums in
the aquifer, pushes the city downwards.64 Many of these
constructions, in particular shopping malls, are reported
to grossly exceed their building floor coefficients,
meaning they are too big and therefore too heavy for
the land space on which they are built.65
High rise, low cost housing built by the government as
alternative housing for people who are evicted from their
homes has also been identified as a source of increased
land subsidence. The apartment buildings are densely
populated, with over 5,000 people per hectare, and
62 See Tirtomihardjo, note 16 above.

63 For example, during the period 2000-2005, the former
Governor of Jakarta Sutiyoso issued permits for the
construction of shopping malls over an area of more than
3 million square metres of land. This is more than twice the
area of shopping centres built in Jakarta from 1962-1997.
Sri Palupi, Perda tentang Ketertiban Umum Hasil Revisi
Perda 11/1988: Upaya Sistematis Mengusir Orang Miskin
dengan Dalih Ketertiban Umum (Regional Government
Regulation concerning Public Order the Result of a Review
of Regional Government Regulation 11/1998: Systematic
Efforts to Drive Out the Poor on the Basis of Public Order)
(Paper presented during discussions on the controversy of
the Regional Government Regulation on Public Order at
the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission,
Jakarta, October 2007, page 11).
64 In addition, trees on the mountains surrounding Jakarta have
been removed to make way for holiday villas radically
reducing the ability of mountains to absorb water. See
Thompson, note 55 above.
65 Examples cited include Kuningan City, Satrio Street;
Gandaria City; Ciputra World Satrio Street; and Senayan City
in South Jakarta, St Moritz, Puri Indah; Central Park, Tanjung
Duren; and Season City, Grogol in West Jakarta, and Kelapa
Gading Square in North Jakarta. See Agnes Winarti,
Superblocks Pose Risks, Study Says, Jakarta Post, 12 February
2009, http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/02/12/
superblocks-pose-risks-study-says.html.
28
residents must use groundwater because the tap water

supply is insufficient.66
Land subsidence in Jakarta was first observed in 1926,
when a Dutch surveyor conducted measurements from
Jatinegara (then on the outskirts of east Jakarta) to
Tanjung Priok harbour in the north.67 No further
investigations were made until 1978 when buildings and
the Sarinah fly-over bridge at M.H.Thamrin Street in
Central Jakarta cracked. Flooding in Jakarta in that period
also covered a wider area.68
The Jakarta Mining Agency has reported on land
subsidence in Jakarta over a twelve year period from
1993 to 2005. For the 60 per cent of land in Jakarta that
is above sea level, the rates of subsidence are alarming:69
Location
Height
above sea
level
in 1993
(in metrs)
Height
Land
above sea Subsidence
level
in 2005
(in metrs) (in centimetres)
North Jakarta
2.03
1.46
57
West Jakarta
2.32
2.11
21
East Jakarta
11.62
11.45
17
South Jakarta
28.76
28.46
30
North Jakarta
3.42
2.40
102
66 Proyek Rumah Susun Dinilai Percepat Tanah Jakarta

Ambles (Highrise Project is Deemed to Accelerate Land
Subsistence in Jakarta) Tempointeraktif, 3 March 2009.
67 P. Suharto, Waterpas Teliti di Indonesia Risalah Ilmiah (Level
Instruments Precise in Indonesia Scientific Journals) (Bandung:
Geodesi ITB, Bandung, 1971), in Rochman Djaja et al., Land
Subsidence of Jakarta Metropolitan Area, Indonesia (3rd FIG
Regional Conference Jakarta, Indonesia, October 3-7, 2004).
68 LM Husoit et al., Pengaruh Alami Geologi dan Berat
Bangunan terhadap Penurunan Muka Tanah dan Terjadinya
Genangan Air (The Natural Influence of Geology and Weight
of Buildings on Land Subsistence and the Occurrence of
Pools of Water) (One Day Seminar on Mining Geology,
Jakarta Mining Agency, Jakarta, Indonesia, 1997).
69 See Indonesia: Environment, Science & Technology, and
Health Highlights February-March 2005, US Embassy,
Jakarta, available at http://www.usembassyjakarta.org/econ/
ESTH_highlight_feb-march05.html.
As Jakarta slowly sinks, the repercussions are potentially

disastrous. Flooding is becoming worse, with February
2008 marking the worst floods for three centuries. Fifty
four people were killed and the floods caused nearly USD
1 billion in damages.70 Perhaps even more catastrophic
is the estimation that in less than 20 years time, the sea
will permanently flood the first two to four kilometres
of the coastal area of Jakarta, rendering almost one third
of Jakarta uninhabitable and causing the displacement
of millions of people.71 The date that this will happen
has even been predicted: 6 December 2025. The
impending disaster has been attributed to a combination
of Jakartas overdevelopment which is compressing the
land it is built on, the peak of an 18.6-year astronomical
tide cycle and the depletion of groundwater caused by
factories, hotels and wealthy residents drilling deep water
bores to bypass the piped water network.72
The Jakarta administration is beginning to acknowledge
the problems caused by excessive groundwater depletion
and to take action.73 However, stopping the overuse of
groundwater is not easy, as aquifer systems are large,
groundwater pumping is difficult to monitor, users
unorganised, there are hundreds of thousands of
consumers, and their numbers increase quickly.74 The
70 See Thompson, note 55 above.

71 By 2025 the population of Jakarta may reach 24.9 million,
not counting millions more in surrounding areas: Pepe
Escobar Book Review. The accumulation of the wretched.
Planet of Slums by Mike Davis, Asia Times, 20 May 2009
available at http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/
HE20Aa01.html.
72 Climate change is not a major reason for this permanent
flooding. By 2025, estimates from the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) show sea levels will have
risen by only about five centimetres. See Anonymous,
Indonesias Thirsty Capital is a Sinking City, AFP, 15 April
2008, available at http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/
2008/04/15/2217414.htm. The findings outlined are the
result of a study by the World Bank and Delft Hydrolics.
73 States should ensure that everyone has a sufficient amount
of safe water by combating the depletion of water resources
from unsustainable extraction by industry. See United Nations
Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human
Rights, Res. 2006/10, Promotion of the Realization of the
Right to Drinking Water and Sanitation, UN Doc.A/HRC/
Sub.1/58/L11 (2006), adopting the Draft Guidelines for the
Realization of the Right to Drinking Water and Sanitation,
UN Doc.E/CN.4/Sub.2/2005/25 (2005), Section 4.1.
74 O. Braadbaart and F. Braadbaart, Policing the Urban
Pumping Race: Industrial Groundwater Overexploitation in
Indonesia, 25(2) World Development 199, 200 (1997).
following section outlines the steps the government has

actually taken to address the problems and asks whether
these steps are sufficient.
REFORM AND ACTION BY THE

GOVERNMENT: IS IT ENOUGH?
If the government is to take sufficient steps to address
the excessive and unlicensed use of groundwater, it must
take a multi-dimensional approach to reform. Not only
does the government need to address the current
regulation of, and attitude towards, groundwater, it also
needs to provide a reliable, commercially viable
alternative water source to groundwater to the big
extractors. The best way to do this is to improve the
piped water supply network, both in regard to the raw
water supplied to the network75 and the capacity of the
network to treat and distribute the water efficiently and
effectively.
The government has drafted new regulations on water
management generally and groundwater particularly, and
has started a public awareness campaign on the
importance of groundwater. It has also embarked on
an ambitious plan with the Asian Development Bank to
improve the quality and quantity of raw water supplied
to the piped network. However, reform in regard to the
network itself remains limited to short ter m
improvements and ancillary measures such as increasing
groundwater fees, addressing compliance issues and
closing wells and bores. These initiatives are discussed
in detail below.
5.1 Regulatory reform

As discussed above, historically the legal framework for
the development of water resources management
specifically excluded groundwater.76 However, in 2004
75 PAM Jaya, for example, is reportedly reluctant to increase

the number of connections because access to raw water is
limited (KRuHA interview, 11 November 2008).
76 See generally Law No.11/1974.
29
the government passed its framework piece of legislation

on water resources management, namely Law No.7/
2004 on Water Resources. Law No.7/2004 now takes a
holistic approach to water management, extending to
both surface and groundwater.77 It also emphasises the
need for efficient water use, which is a new concept in
Indonesian water management.78
Prior to 2004, the responsibility for groundwater
management lay with the Department of Energy and
Mineral Resources as groundwater was seen mainly as a
mining resource and not as a renewable resource.
Regulation of groundwater consisted of guidelines with
an emphasis on the technical aspects of groundwater
extraction. The historical emphasis of groundwater
regulation was therefore on exploitation rather than
sustainable use, which has contributed to a low
awareness of the real value of groundwater in Jakarta.
Factory managers for example do not think beyond the
fact that unless they sink new and deeper boreholes every
two or three years their neighbours will draw away all
the water. 79 The low awareness of the value of
groundwater can also be seen by the common practice
of removing and discarding groundwater when land is
excavated for foundations or basements of luxury
apartments, hotels, shopping malls and business
complexes. 80 In order to encourage users and
administrators to place a value on groundwater, and to
ensure its sustainable use, it is important that the
economic, environmental, social and cultural value of
water is recognised. The new Law No.7/2004 recognises
this in a very general sense, stating that water has a social,
cultural, environmental and economic function.81 For
example, Law No.7/2004 clearly states the need for
efficient water use82 and acknowledges the need to
recognise indigenous peoples rights when exercising
77 Article 1(5) of Law No.7/2004 where the definition of water

resource includes both surface and groundwater.
78 Article 26(6) of Law No.7/2004.
79 See Braadbaart and Braadbaart, note 74 above at 209.
80 Pidana Bagi Penyedot Berlebihan (Criminal Sanctions for
Excessive Extractors), Kompas, 17 April 2008, available at
http://asosiasi.org/tbk/2008/10/pidana-bagi-penyedotberlebihan/.
81 See Article 4 of Law No.7/2004.
82 Law No.7/2004 clearly states that every person has the
responsibility to use water in a conservative manner as
possible (Article 26(6)), although it does not state what this
means exactly or how it will be enforced.
30
control over water resources, although this recognition

is heavily qualified.83 The Law also guarantees everyones
right to obtain water for their minimum daily basic needs,
and outlines the governments obligation to ensure that
access to water for such purposes is free and is the first
priority for water use.84 However the ability of the State
to fulfil this latter obligation is seriously challenged by
the combination of the declining water table and
salinisation and pollution of groundwater. These factors
mean that getting water from shallow wells is becoming
more difficult for households that rely on groundwater
as their primary source of water. 85 Each year,
households must dig deeper wells to access water for
household uses 86 or they will not have access to
groundwater for basic daily needs.
In this regard, in 2005 Indonesia ratified the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights. Article 11 requires the government to
recognise the right of everyone to an adequate standard
of living, which includes the right to water. This means
that water supply must be sufficient, clean, accessible,
affordable and enjoyed without discrimination.87 The
right to water is also guaranteed by Article 28H of the
Indonesian Constitution, which was amended in 2000
to include a chapter on human rights. Article 28H states
that every person has the right to live in spiritual and
physical welfare, has the right to housing, and the right
to a good and healthy environment as well as the right
83 Article 6(2) and (3) of Law No.7/2004. The qualifications

are that the indigenous peoples rights must not be contrary
to the national interest and laws, and the indigenous peoples
rights must still exist and have been consolidated by local
government regulation.
84 See Articles 5, 29(3) and 80 of Law No.7/2004 on Water
Resources.
85 See Djaja et al., note 67 above.
86 Interview with Jakarta resident, 13 November 2008.
87 Sufficient means that water must be sufficient and
continuous for personal and domestic uses; clean means safe
water that in particular is free from hazardous substances
that could endanger human health, and whose colour, odour
and taste are acceptable to users); accessible means that water
services and facilities are accessible within, or in the
immediate vicinity, of each household, educational
institution and workplace; affordable means that water can
be secured without reducing a persons capacity to acquire
other essential goods and services, including food, housing,
health ser vices and education..See United Nations
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, note
35 above, Paras. 2 and 12.
to obtain health care.88 The Indonesian Constitutional

Court has determined that Law No.7/2004 is in
accordance with the right to water as set out in the
Constitution.89
The principles in Law No.7/2004 are quite general as
this Law is a framework law, the details of which are set
out in implementing regulations. The implementing
regulation on groundwater, Government Regulation
No.43/2008 on Groundwater, was passed in May 2008.
The Regulation elaborates on the framework provided
in Law No.7/2004 and is an important step towards
strategic groundwater management. As set out in the
framework Law No.7/2004, its emphasis is no longer
just on exploitation, but also on conservation and the
sustainable use of groundwater.90 The Regulation
favours the basin approach to g roundwater
management,91 whereas in the past, the focus was on
the management of boreholes. The management of
groundwater as a hydro-geological unit is now central.92
It appears that the Department of Energy and Mineral
Resources is still primarily responsible for groundwater
management, although this is not clearly stated.93
Importantly, Government Regulation No.43/2008
recognises the connection between groundwater
management and surface water management and that
the two should be managed in an integrated manner.94
However, it does not express the need for administrative
coordination between the different government agencies
responsible for surface water and groundwater
management.95 The recognition is also limited in very
general terms to conservation, efficient utilisation and
88 Judicial Review of the Water Resources Law (No 7/2004)
No 058-059-060-063/PUU-II/2004 and 008/PUU-III/
2005, at 488.
89 Id. at 485, 491-2.
90 See for example, Elucidation I. General Point 4 and 5 of
Government Regulation No.43/2008 on Groundwater.
91 See Elucidation I. General, Point 2; Article 4 of Government
Regulation No.43/2008 on Groundwater.
92 H.H.A. Teeuwen, Groundwater Management and the New
Indonesian Water Legislation 8 (Ministry for Transport,
Public Works and Water Management, Rijkswaterstaat, The
Netherlands, September 2005).
93 The Department of Energy and Mineral Resources was
responsible for drafting the Regulation.
94 See Article 3(1) of Government Regulation No.43/2008 on
Groundwater.
95 See Elucidation I. General, Point 1 of Government
Regulation No.43/2008 on Groundwater.
control of the potential damage to groundwater.96 This

means that plans for groundwater management must
prioritise the use of surface water in the relevant river
basin;97 the conservation of groundwater must involve
using groundwater as the last alternative;98 and plans
for provision of groundwater must be compiled bearing
in mind plans for the provision of surface water.99
The general manner in which the connection between
groundwater and surface water management is
recognised in the Regulation makes this aspect of the
Regulation difficult to apply in practice, and the
supervision of its implementation even harder. The
Regulation does not take into account situations where
surface water is inadequate, for example, where the
surface water is not an improved water source,100 is not
affordable, the supply is not continuous or where it takes
too long to collect the water. 101 It also does not
recognise in detail the physical connection between
groundwater and surface water.
In regard to efficient use of groundwater, the Regulation
recognises the cur rent unsustainable levels of
groundwater use. However, several of the requirements
to ensure the sustainable use of groundwater are
impractical. For example, to prevent the pollution of
groundwater, groundwater users must close (and
therefore no longer use) wells where the water is
polluted.102 In Jakarta more than half of the population
rely on groundwater from wells as a source of water,
but more than 60 per cent of wells sampled in 2004
96 Elucidation of Article 3 of Government Regulation No.43/
2008 on Groundwater.
97 Article 25(2)(a) of Government Regulation No.43/2008 on
Groundwater. This reflects Article 26(6) of the framework
law.
98 Article 42(1)(d) of Government Regulation No.43/2008
on Groundwater.
99 Article 51(1) of Government Regulation No.43/2008 on
Groundwater.
100 An improved water source is one that is likely to be safe,
and includes household connections, public standpipes,
boreholes, protected dug wells, protected springs and
rainwater collection. See WHO and UNICEF, Joint
Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation:
Definitions, available at http://www.wssinfo.org/en/
122_definitions.html.
101 These are elements of the right to water, as set out in
General Comment No.15. See United Nations Committee
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, note 35 above.
102 Article 46 of Government Regulation No.43/2008 on
Groundwater.
31
showed e-coli contamination in excess of the regulated

drinking water level, despite the majority of these being
classified as protected wells. In 2006, the Jakarta
Environmental Monitoring Agency (BPHLD Jakarta)
estimated that 80 per cent of deep wells were
contaminated with e-coli,103 and in September 2008
concluded that in some areas (West Jakarta and Central
Jakarta) contamination was as high as 93 per cent.104 It
is also unclear how this requirement to close polluted
wells can be applied consistently with the requirement
that the supply of groundwater for daily needs must be
prioritised above all other needs,105 and that the State
must guarantee everyones right to obtain water for their
minimum daily basic needs.106
The Regulation also notes the occurrence of sea water
intrusion into groundwater and land subsidence, stating
that the way to avoid this is by prohibiting the extraction
of groundwater in coastal areas,107 and stopping the
extraction of groundwater in critical zones and damaged
zones.108 How this will be achieved in practice is unclear,
and it will not lead to the desired results without similar
commitment to reducing Jakartas overdevelopment on
natural drainage sites, green areas and open spaces.
Preventing land subsidence can also be through the
creation of artificial recharge areas.109 All three methods
will be further regulated by Ministerial Regulation.110
As mentioned above, the Regulation prioritises the use
of groundwater for domestic use (basic daily needs),
for small-scale farming in an irrigation system, and as a
source of drinking water.111 The use of groundwater
103 World Bank, Economic Impacts of Sanitation in Indonesia:
A Five-country Study Conducted in Cambodia, Indonesia
Lao PDR, the Philippines, and Vietnam under the
Economics of Sanitation Initiative (ESI) 32 (Jakarta: World
Bank, Research Report, 2008).
104 Air Tanah Jakarta Semakin Tercemar Bakteri E-coli
(Jakarta Groundwater Increasingly Contaminated by the
E-coli Bacteria), Tempointeraktif, 27 February 2009, available
at http://www.tempointeraktif.com/hg/layanan_publik/
2009/02/27/brk,20090227-162362,id.html.
Groundwater.
106 Article 5 of Law No.7/2004.
Groundwater.
108 Id. Article 63(2).
110 Id. Article 64.
32
for commercial purposes requires a permit and a fee

may be charged.112 Where licences are required, the
Regulation does not set out a clear procedure in relation
to licensing and this may discourage users from applying
for a licence, and therefore unintentionally encourage
unlicensed groundwater use. For example, the Regulation
does not stipulate when a decision must be made
regarding the application, and has no information about
the nature of permit conditions to be set, about
amendment to and revocation of the permit, or about
the handling of any appeals to be lodged against the
permit decision.113 It merely states that licensing will
be further regulated by Ministerial Regulation.114
It is questionable whether the financing structure in the
Regulation offers sufficient incentives for reducing
groundwater usage. A fee instrument is likely to be
inappropriate for such a purpose given that the way the
fee is determined allocates no value to the groundwater
itself.115 If as stated in the Regulation one of the goals
is limiting groundwater use, the Regulation should focus
more on the strict application of the per mit
instrument.116 In this regard, clear policy frameworks
should set out a strategic plan for achieving the reduction
of groundwater, especially by industry, luxury hotels and
apartments and shopping malls.
The government has also prepared a draft regulation
on water usage rights.117 This draft regulation also
contains provisions on licensing. However, it appears
that the licensing systems in the Regulation on
Groundwater and in the draft regulation on water usage
rights differ, although both may cover groundwater. For
example, in the Regulation on Groundwater, water usage
rights to utilise groundwater for basic daily needs
requires a permit if the diameter of the bore is more
than five centimetres, the water is not extracted by hand
or the water used is more than 100 m3 per month for
each family and is a central distribution point.118 On
the other hand, the draft regulation on water usage rights
states that a licence is required for basic daily needs if
112 Id. Article 58.
113 See Teeuwen, note 92 above at 20.
Groundwater.
115 Id. Articles 83-84.
116 See Teeuwen, note 92 above at 15.
117 See Draft Regulation on Water Usage Rights, 10 June 2008.
Groundwater.
the manner water is used changes the natural condition

of water sources, if the water is used in large amounts
(it is unclear what this means), or if it is used for
community farming outside the existing irrigation
system.119
Where no licence is required under the draft regulation
on water usage rights, such rights are realised through a
water allocation certificate, published on the basis of
an inventory of population number, estimated water
needs to fulfil basic daily needs and estimates of water
needs for community farming in pre-existing systems.120
The certificate is intended to guarantee the right of the
certificate holder to manage the water resource.121 It is
doubtful that households considered to be illegally
occupying the land will be issued with such a certificate
and therefore they will have no guarantee of free
groundwater for personal daily use under the draft
regulation. The Regulation on Groundwater makes no
provision for such certification.
Another area in which the two regulations differ
although both can apply to groundwater, is in relation
to the priority of water use. While the draft regulation
on water use rights prioritises water use to fulfil daily
basic needs, prioritisation between other uses of water
is absent. The Regulation on Groundwater clearly sets
out the priority of water use.
Finally, an important point of difference between the
two regulations is the need for efficient groundwater use.
While the Regulation on Groundwater clearly recognises
the need for efficient use of groundwater (both shallow
and deep),122 the draft regulation on water usage rights
does not contain any such obligations where groundwater
is used for fulfilling daily basic needs or for community
based agriculture. Obligations regarding water use are
only imposed on those holding a licence, which neither
of the users of groundwater for daily basic needs or for
community agriculture are required to have. However,
Law No.7/2004, on which this draft regulation is based,
has an overarching requirement for efficient groundwater
use.
119 Article 8(1) and (2) of the Draft Regulation on Water Usage
Rights.
120 Id. Article 20 (1) and (2).
122 See Articles 41 and 42 of Government Regulation No.43/
2008 on Groundwater.
Under the draft regulation, holders of water usage rights

are obliged to give the local community access to the
water resources over which they hold rights, for the
purpose of fulfilling the communitys basic daily
needs. 123 In this respect it is important the local
community is obliged to use the water efficiently so as
to avoid any conflict over water usage.
5.2 Public awareness campaigns

In addition to the regulatory reform outlined above, the
Jakarta administration has begun a public awareness
campaign regarding the importance of groundwater in
the form of television advertising addressing groundwater
conservation. 124 The slogan of the campaign is
selamatkan air tanah untuk tanah air (save groundwater
for the sake of our nation).125 The Jakarta Mining Agency
is also promoting the 5R Programme (reduce, reuse,
recycle, recharge and recover) to industries and
companies, which is aimed at conserving groundwater.126
In this regard, the government has also introduced a
requirement that homeowners and commercial building
owners build facilities to store rainwater and to channel
it underground. This may be either in the form of rainwater
run-off pools, catchment basins or biopore cylinders.127
123 See Article 35 of the Draft Regulation on Water Usage Rights.
124 The advertisements observed were shown on TvOne in
October 2008.
125 The Sub-Commission Guidelines state that States should
adopt measures to prevent over-consumption and promote
efficient water use, such as public education, dissemination
of appropriate conservation technologies, and, as necessary,
restrictions on water use beyond an acceptable consumption
threshold, including through the imposition of charges.
See United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and
Protection of Human Rights, note 73 above, Section 4.2.
126 Anonymous, 1,000 Fir ms Fined for Over using
Groundwater, Jakarta Post, 12 December 2008, available at
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/12/12/1000firms-fined-overusing-groundwater.html.
127 Biopores are tunnels bored into the soil that enable
organisms to become more active and plants to take root
more easily. Such processes create hollow spaces inside the
soil that are filled with air, and these air-filled spaces function
as channels to absorb water more readily. Biopores allow
the soil to absorb water and minimise the possibility of
water inundating soils surface. This in turn reduces flooding
since the water is directly absorbed into the soil. See
Anonymous, Biopore Infiltration Holes: A Flood
Prevention Method, Jakarta Post, 26 June 2008, available at
http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/bioporeinfiltration-holes-flood-prevention-method-0.
33
It is intended that the facilities will prevent repeat

flooding, water scarcity and will recharge groundwater
in the event of drought.128 The target in regard to
biopore cylinders for 2009 is to create five million in
five municipalities across Jakarta.129 However, it is
unclear how this will be implemented in practice given
the high population density of Jakarta. It is also unclear
how its implementation will be supervised given Jakartas
official population is around 8.5 million residents130 and
a biopore cylinder unit can be as small as ten centimetres
in diameter for a house on land measuring up to 21
square metres. The cost may also be prohibitive for many
low income residents, with a house on land this size
requiring at least three cylinders at a cost of over half a
months official minimum wage.
5.3 The need for adequate surface

water
While regulatory reform and public awareness campaigns
are important steps in addressing excessive groundwater
depletion, as mentioned above, the strategy must also
include providing a reliable, commercially viable
alternative water source to groundwater to the big
extractors. The best way to do this is to improve the
piped water supply network, both in regard to the raw
water supplied to the network and the capacity of the
network to treat and distribute the water efficiently and
effectively.
5.3.1 Quality of raw water supplied to the

network
In regard to the first factor, namely the quality of raw
water supplied to the network, 80 per cent of Jakartas
water supply comes from the Citarum River Basin in
West Java and flows through the West Tarum Canal, a
128 Adianto P. Simamora, Households May Have to Store
Rainwater, Jakarta Post, 9 February 2009, available at http:/
/www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/02/09/householdsmay-have-store-rainwater.html.
129 Triwik Kurniasari, City Aims to Build 5m Biopores this
Year, Jakarta Post, 1 April 2009, available at http://
www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/04/01/city-aimsbuild-5m-biopores-year.html. Jakarta currently has only
335,590 biopores, far below the recommended 76 million.
130 Dinas Kependudukan dan Catatan Sipil (Population and
Civil Registry Office), December 2008, available at http://
w w w. k e p e n d u d u k a n c a p i l . g o. i d /
index.php?Itemid=63&id=4&option=com_content&view=article.
34
68 kilometre long canal that was opened in 1968. The

Citarum River was named one of the most highly
polluted rivers in Indonesia in a 2007 study by the
Indonesian Department for the Environment. It has a
biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of 155.131 The
Asian Development Bank has even called the Citarum
River the worlds dirtiest river.132 It is polluted by
industrial waste, household waste and garbage from the
settlements along its banks, agricultural waste and silt
from increasing erosion and landslides in the river basin
area. As a result, the quality of the raw water treated by
the private piped water companies is poor and requires
extensive treatment, the subsequent effect of which is
that piped water often has a strong smell of chlorine
and other chemicals and does not run clear. Many
households and businesses do not want to use the piped
water as it smells and is discoloured.133
In an effort to address this problem, in December 2008,
the Indonesian government and the Asian Development
Bank signed a USD 500 million loan for the Integrated
Citarum Water Resources Management Investment
Program (ICWRMIP). Through the ICWRMIP, the Bank
will support the rehabilitation of the West Tarum Canal.
The main objective of the rehabilitation work is to
improve the flow and quality of water that supplies Jakarta,134
131 BOD is the total oxygen required by micro-organisms to

decompose organic substances in sewerage. See Adianto P.
Simamora, Most Rivers Face Severe Pollution, Study Finds,
Jakarta Post, 2 December 2008, available at http://
www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/12/02/most-riversface-severe-pollution-study-finds.html. Moderately polluted
rivers may have a BOD value in the range of two to eight
mg/L.
132 Anonymous, ADB Lends $500 mln to Clean Up Dirtiest
River, Jakarta Post, 5 December 2008, available at http://
www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/12/05/adb-lends500-mln-clean-dirtiest-river.html.
133 In an interview with a taxi diver in October 2008, the driver
commented that his wife did not want to use piped water
as it had been treated with chemicals which could not be
good for you. It could also be seen in a comment by a
resident of the Semanan subdistrict in West Jakarta that
[groundwater] is much better than the pricey tap water
which has been mixed with chemical substances. See
Bambang Nurbianto, Poor People Pay More for Water,
Jakarta Post, 11 July 2005, available at http://
westjavawater.blogspot.com/2005/07/poor-people-paymore-for-water.html.
134 The project is to supply water to 200,000 more households
in Jakarta, as it will ultimately increase Jakartas water supply
by 2.5 per cent annually. See Anonymous, note 132 above.
in addition to supplying the water requirements of

industrial establishments and about 52,800 hectares of
farmland.135 At present the Canal operates at 70 per cent
capacity only and leakage from the Canal is more than
ten cubic metres per second.136 However, the ICWRMIP
is not without controversy. It is feared that the
rehabilitation of the Canal will result in at least 872
households being evicted from the Citarum River Basin
without an appropriate resettlement plan.137 The families
will not be compensated for lost land as the land is
considered State land.138 The rehabilitation project may
also cause temporary problems for Jakartas piped water
supply as canal dredging will disperse bottom sediments.
5.3.2 Capacity of the network to treat and

distribute water
In regard to the second factor, namely the capacity of
the network to treat and distribute the water efficiently
and effectively, the government has only recently begun
to publicly acknowledge the connection between a poor
water distribution network and excessive groundwater
use.139 Limited initiatives have been introduced in this
respect, all of which are short term and not directed at
sustainable improvements to the piped water network.
The initiatives are directed towards increasing
groundwater fees, closing wells and bores and
compliance issues.
The Jakarta administration plans to increase current
groundwater fees by up to sixteen times their current
rate in an effort to balance the prices set by the piped
135 Directorate General of Water Resources, Indonesia:
Integrated Citar um Water Resources Management
Investment Program (Resettlement Plan, Document Stage:
Draft for Consultation, Project Number: 37049-01-03, ii,
6-7, August 2008).
136 Directorate General of Water Resources, Public
Information Booklet: Integrated Citarum Water Resources
Management Investment Program, available at http://
www.adb.org/Documents/Resettlement_Plans/INO/
37049/37049-06-INO-RP.pdf. [hereafter Public
Information Booklet].
137 Yuli Tri Suwarni, ADB Urged to Withdraw Investment in
Citarum, Jakarta Post, 5 December 2008, available at http:/
/www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/12/05/adb-urgedwithdraw-investment-citarum.html.
138 See Directorate General of Water Resources, note 136 above.
139 Triwik Kurniasari, City to Propose Draft on New
Groundwater Tariff , Jakarta Post, 4 March 2009, available
at http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/03/04/
city-propose-draft-new-groundwater-tariff.html.
water network providers, and to reduce groundwater

consumption and land subsidence. 140 Fees for
groundwater have always been far below those for piped
water, for example, piped water ranges from Rp.1,050
to Rp.12,550 per cubic metre, whereas groundwater is
only Rp.525 per cubic metre for luxury homes and up
to Rp.3,300 for industry.141 Groundwater that does not
require a licence and that is used for basic daily needs is
free. The proposed new fees for groundwater would be
on par or higher than piped water, ranging from Rp.8,800
(luxury homes) to Rp.23,000 (industry) per cubic metre.
The government has stated that the components for
the proposed new fees are based on costs such as
replacing the groundwater taken, with the remainder
being environmental compensation costs.142 These
components will ideally increase awareness of the real
value of groundwater as well as the need for its efficient
and sustainable use. However, there is no indication that
the increased revenue from groundwater will be ringfenced and utilised to promote the sustainable use of
groundwater in practice. Rather it is likely that the
additional money will be used for general purposes as
part of the wider government budget.
The Jakarta government has also begun to actively
implement the requirement in the contracts with the
private operators that it assist in closing deep wells where
piped water is available.143 Recently, commercial jeanslaundry plants were given a deadline of early December
2008 to use tap water instead of groundwater, and if
they failed to do so, they were to be either relocated or
shutdown. Local residents had previously complained
that the laundries caused water shortages because of
their excessive use of groundwater.144 In March 2009,
the wells of five companies were shut off, with the
140 Fery Firmansyah, Tarif Air Tanah Jakarta Akan Dinaikkan
(Groundwater Tariffs will be Raised), Tempointeraktif, 27 February
2009, available at http://www.tempointeraktif.com/hg/
tata_kota/2009/02/27/brk,20090227-162358,id.html.
141 Peraturan Gubernur No.4554/1999 (Regulation of the
Governor No.4554/1999).
142 Fery Firmansyah, note 141 above.
143 Articles 9.2(b) and 12 of the Contracts.
144 Anonymous, Laundries Behind Time to Install Tap Water,
Waste Disposal Systems, Jakarta Post, 26 November 2008,
11/26/laundries-behind-time-install-tap-water-wastedisposal-systems.html and Anonymous, Most Laundries
Get Tap Water Installed, Jakarta Post, 27 November 2008,
11/27/most-laundries-get-tap-water-installed.html.
35
government intending to close the wells of 48 companies

in total.145
The government also plans to limit the amount of
groundwater that can be extracted to 100 cubic metres
a day.146 Penalties for those who misuse groundwater
will also be increased, with fines of up to Rp.1 billion
(USD 109,000) and gaol terms of more than six years.147
Previously many managers of tall buildings exceeded
their quota because the fine was less than the tariff for
piped water.148 However, by mid December 2008, 1,000
companies in Jakarta were facing over Rp.5 billion (USD
545,000) in fines for the misuse of groundwater. Some
company representatives have complained about the
fines, stating that they have to use groundwater because
the piped water network fails to meet their needs.149
The Department of Energy and Mineral Resources has
also asked the two water operators to increase their water
supply. Palyja, which operates in the western side of
Jakarta, has installed booster pumps to ser ve
groundwater and tap water subscribers in the Mega
Kuningan business district in South Jakarta, increasing
the water supply from Palyja from 30 litres per second
to 50 litres per second.150 Data indicates that there are
145 West Jakarta Closes Deep Wells to Conserve Groundwater,
Jakarta Post, 17 March 2009, available at http://
www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/03/17/west-jakartacloses-deep-wells-conserve-groundwater.html.
146 Berlebihan, Eksploitasi Air Tanah di Jakarta (Excessive,
Groundwater Exploitation in Jakarta) Suara Pembaruan,
18 November 2008.
147 Govt Told to Monitor Groundwater Exploitation, Jakarta
Post, 1 July 2008, available at http://
www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/07/01/govt-toldmonitor-groundwater-exploitation.html.
148 Pidana Bagi Penyedot Berlebihan (Criminal Sanctions for
Excessive Extractors), Kompas, 17 April 2008, available at
http://asosiasi.org/tbk/2008/10/pidana-bagi-penyedotberlebihan/.
149 1,000 Firms Fined for Overusing Groundwater, Jakarta
Post, 12 December 2008, available at http://
www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/12/12/1000-firmsfined-overusing-groundwater.html.
150 The head of the groundwater and mineral management subagency Dian Wiwekowati, quoted in Adamrah, note 22 above.
Aetra is planning to install a new booster pump in Cilincing,
North Jakarta and to upgrade their booster pumps in Sungai
Bambu and Sumur Batu in North and Central Jakarta in early
2009. See Water Quality Tops Complaints in Consumer
Survey, Jakarta Post, 22 December 2008, available at http://
www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/12/22/water-qualitytops-complaints-consumer-survey.html.
36
fifteen groundwater users extracting 50,697 cubic meters

per month (or 19.6 litres per second) of groundwater
from 24 deep wells in the area. The groundwater users
are all Palyja customers.151
CONCLUSION
Piped water supply in Jakarta is characterised by poor
levels of access and quality. Reliability, limited coverage
of the piped network, the low cost of groundwater, and
water quality are important factors in determining
consumer preference for g roundwater. 152 This
preference for groundwater has led to excessive
groundwater use and theft, which is causing significant
land subsidence, pollution and salinisation of aquifers
and increased levels of flooding. The impact is so severe,
the World Bank is predicting much of Jakarta will be
inundated by seawater in 2025, rendering at least one
third of the city uninhabitable and displacing millions
of people.
In its effort to address this impending disaster, the
government has taken the important step of revising
its water management legislation so that it now adopts
a holistic approach to water management, emphasises
the need for efficient water use and recognises, although
in a general sense, that water has a social, cultural,
environmental and economic function and value. All
these are positive developments. The government has
also begun a public awareness campaign regarding the
importance of groundwater.
However, reduction of groundwater use is generally
judged to require an increased quantity and improved
quality of piped water supply from surface water.153 As
discussed above, Jakartas piped water system suffers
numerous problems, including low service coverage, high
water losses, low water quality and poor reliability. The
151 See Adamrah, note 22 above.
152 Yusman Syaukat and G.C. Fox,Conjunctive Surface and
Ground Water Management in the Jakarta Region,
Indonesia, 40(1) Journal of the American Water Resources
Association 241 (2004).
153 Id. at 242.
government has embarked on an ambitious long term

plan to improve the quality of raw water supplied to the
piped water network, but is yet to develop long term
policies for improvement of the network itself. The
question therefore remains, has the government done
enough and will it implement its commitment to
sustainable groundwater use, or will groundwater use
continue unabated making Jakarta the next lost city of
Atlantis?
37
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Law

WILL JAKARTA BE THE NEXT ATLANTIS? EXCESSIVE GROUNDWATER

LEAD Journal (Law, Environment and Development Journal)

This document can be cited as

The Politics of Piped Water and History of Groundwater Use

Why Hopes for a Privatisation-Led Shift to Piped Water Failed

The Effect of Excessive Groundwater Use on Groundwater

Reform and Action by the Government: is it Enough?

Law, Environment and Development Journal

THE POLITICS OF PIPED WATER

Jakarta - Drinking Water Supply

century when it was extended minimally to local

Jakarta as a modern, progressive, independent city which

Law, Environment and Development Journal

treatment plants; and new investment into small-scale

Jakarta - Drinking Water Supply

resource. Regulation of groundwater consisted of

WHY HOPES FOR A PRIVATISATIONLED SHIFT TO PIPED WATER

19 The contracts were renegotiated in 2001 following the

reduce water losses, increase the number of connections,

Law, Environment and Development Journal

their basic needs. If piped water cannot meet their basic

initial connection fee affects the urban poor in particular,

31 Connection fees are approximately Rp.10,00,000 (USD 100):

Jakarta - Drinking Water Supply

connections provided by State owned corporations. The

35 This is contrary to the requirement that no households

Water tariffs are also high, recorded as the highest in

Law, Environment and Development Journal

The low quality of piped water is a further disincentive

However, it is not only households that experience

THE EFFECT OF EXCESSIVE

Jakarta - Drinking Water Supply

groundwater as an alternative source of water to piped

Law, Environment and Development Journal

salinisation caused by seawater intrusion: where

62 See Tirtomihardjo, note 16 above.

residents must use groundwater because the tap water

66 Proyek Rumah Susun Dinilai Percepat Tanah Jakarta

Jakarta - Drinking Water Supply

As Jakarta slowly sinks, the repercussions are potentially

70 See Thompson, note 55 above.

following section outlines the steps the government has

REFORM AND ACTION BY THE

5.1 Regulatory reform

75 PAM Jaya, for example, is reportedly reluctant to increase

Law, Environment and Development Journal

the government passed its framework piece of legislation

77 Article 1(5) of Law No.7/2004 where the definition of water

control over water resources, although this recognition

83 Article 6(2) and (3) of Law No.7/2004. The qualifications

Jakarta - Drinking Water Supply

to obtain health care.88 The Indonesian Constitutional

control of the potential damage to groundwater.96 This

Law, Environment and Development Journal

showed e-coli contamination in excess of the regulated

for commercial purposes requires a permit and a fee

Jakarta - Drinking Water Supply