In a landmark ruling, Indonesia’s Supreme Court this week ordered the government to restore public water services to residents in Jakarta after finding private companies “failed to protect” their right to water.
The Supreme Court decision quoted residents of low-income areas in North Jakarta who blamed limited access to clean water and sanitation services on the failure of the private companies to adequately service their neighborhoods. Those residents described how the firms, PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya and PT Aetra Air Jakarta, provided only sporadic water service, mostly limited to evening hours. These residents were forced to buy expensive drinking water from street vendors and bathe in polluted public wells. “Disconnection of water services because of failure to pay due to lack of means constitutes a violation of the human right to water and other international human rights,” concluded three United Nations water experts in 2014.
Suharto ordered Jakarta’s public water utility to be divided into two operations, giving one half to a joint venture between British firm Thames Water and an Indonesian firm owned by his son.
The privatization contracts included guarantees that lower-income consumers would pay lower water tariffs. However, 12 residents and organizations that filed the class action lawsuit that led to the Supreme Court ruling argued that the companies deliberately underserviced lower-income consumers to prioritize higher-revenue service to wealthier consumers.