Makassar facing clean water shortage

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Wed, 06/27/2012


A water shortage at Makassar's local water operator (PDAM) has created a clean water crisis for residents of Makassar, the provincial capital of South Sulawesi.

Data from PDAM Makassar shows that its water production has only reached 70.09 million cubic meters, or enough to fulfill the needs of only 70 percent of Makassar's 1.4 million residents

One resident at Baddoka in Biringkanaya district, Daeng Baji, said on Wednesday that Makassar residents only got running water at night. As a result, the residents were forced to stay up in order to fill several basins of water for themselves. Whenever there was a water shortage, the local water operator usually dispatched a water tanker for needy residents, Daeng said.

However, this time, Daeng said that the local water operator had not given Makassar residents any help, even though the water crisis had been ongoing for nearly a month, Antara News agency reported.

Similarly, Salma, a resident of Kera-Kera in Tamalanrea district, said water shortages had forced residents in her area to look for clean water from a public well located in the grounds of Hasanuddin University, which was two kilometers away.