PAM Jaya Gears Up to Provide Clean Water for MBR

Perumda PAM Jaya is committed to providing clean water services for low-income people (MBR) in Jakarta.

Since 2007, PAM Jaya's water tariffs until now in 2022 have never increased

Perumda PAM Jaya Service Director, Syahrul Hasan said PAM Jaya was not a profit-oriented regional public company. But instead, many social programs have been running, thus MBR in Jakarta can easily access clean water services.

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"Since 2007, PAM Jaya's water tariffs until now in 2022 have never increased and from the existing tariffs it has provided subsidies of approximately Rp 60 billion per month in the provision of clean water services for MBR," he expressed, Thursday (12/1).

He went on to say that the majority of Perumda PAM Jaya's customers were MBR. The tariffs charged were also very cheap and had not experienced an increase until now. For 1,000 liters of water only a tariff of Rp. 1,050 was charged. That is, every liter of water is only subject to a tariff of Rp 1.

"Seeing this matter, the tariff is very cheap compared to the increase in various needs, such as bottled water, fuel to electricity since 2007," he continued.

According to him, the reason PAM Jaya never paid dividends was that it referred to the Home Ministry Circular Letter Number 690/447/SJ. Referring to the regulation, they are not required to pay dividends when service coverage has not reached 85 percent

"Reflecting the facts, PAM Jaya has paid an immaterial dividend of Rp 720 billion per year or the equivalent of 10.8 trillion in the last 15 years," he added.

This condition is less than ideal. Hence, the PAM Jaya would propose a tariff change scheme. Interestingly, through the ongoing study, the tariff for MBR will decrease to Rp 1,000 per 1,000 liters. As for the middle class and key accounts, there will be adjustments.

"We will continue to provide subsidies, but we will adjust them for the middle class and above. It will also refer to existing regulations," he continued.

According to him, this tariff adjustment had to be done. It was because no rise for the middle and upper class in 15 years was not ideal.

"Referring to the Home Ministry Regulation, minimum and maximum water tariffs are also regulated," he added.

In Seribu Islands, Perumda PAM Jaya also manages eight Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) to provide clean water to residents. The tariff scheme is the same as on the mainland, which is Rp 1,050 per 1,000 liters, even though the production cost for 1,000 liters reaches Rp 38,000 to Rp 40,000.

"Discussion from a business perspective is of course a loss. Nevertheless, this is a form of our alignment and commitment to MBR, including in Seribu Islands, thus it is also easy to get clean water," he added.

He asserted the tariff for clean water in Jakarta was already very cheap compared to other areas in Indonesia, including Jakarta's buffer zones.

"For Depok and Bekasi, the current tariff for MBR is higher than Jakarta, and in Karawang Regency for medium and commercial tariffs is also higher than Jakarta," he said.