Residents in affluent PIK neighborhood complain of yellow, smelly water in their supposedly drinkable supply 

Photo: Illustration

The affluent area of Pantai Indah Kapuk in North Jakarta has a lot going for it – well-planned neighborhoods, an amazingly dense cluster of happening new restaurants and even drinkable tap water. Well, not so much the last one recently.

Like many areas of Jakarta, PIK has been dealing with serious water issues lately, but as they are supposed to have access to particularly clean water, the issues seem, well, much more disgusting quite frankly. Recently, residents and restaurants in the area have complained that the water coming out of their pipes is tinted yellow and smelling of sewage.

Liputan6 surveyed a number of restaurants in PIK and found that most were no longer using the tap water for cooking purposes. 

“The water from PAM [the municipal water utility] is smelly. The PAM water is also the same as that supplied by PIK management. That’s why we do not use the water again,” Wiwin, a manager at one of the restaurants in the Rukan Crown Golf complex, told Liputan6 on Wednesday.

In fact, several restaurants in the area have placed signs in their windows to let customers know they were no longer using the water from PIK/PAM and were relying exclusively on outside purified water instead.

Wiwin also said that PIK management was trucking in clean water to supply restaurants in the area. “Yes there is now a tanker coming every day with clean water supplies. According to PIK management, the water comes from the mountains.” 

But despite that, most restaurants were still reluctant to use anything coming out of their pipes.

Sedayu Group residential estate director general, Restu Mahesa, said the cause of the murky water was the long dry season. He said the raw water source used by companies in the area had dried up. 

“Because it is so dry, sea water has seeped into the ground,” he told Tempo.

Restu said that despite the water’s appearance, laboratory testing had shown it was not contaminated by heavy metals or E.coli bacteria. 

He also said PIK management was building a new pipeline to gain access to new raw water sources. He said construction on the new pipeline was expected to be completed early next year.



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