Reorientation of clean water supply services in Indonesia : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, New Zealand

Abstract

There have been major problems with the sustainability of water supply development and provision in urban areas of Indonesia, carried out by PDAMs under local government control. Two critical issues that are being faced by PDAMs are: (1) the capacity of PDAMs to increase the current coverage of the provision, which currently is only 40% of urban population and (2) the capability of PDAMs to carry on their developmental mission in providing clean water in urban areas. The main objective of this thesis is to examine the most influential factors behind the failure of water supply development in urban areas of Indonesia. The research findings in this thesis propose the necessary reformation to be taken in order to give the right orientation to water supply development. Based on a review of the literature, field work, discussions, correspondence and experiences of the author. I argue that the most influential factors concerning sustainable development of urban water supply of Indonesia are related to: population, urbanisation, income, human resources, supervision, private sector participation and central government control. This thesis has drawn the conclusion that the development of water supply in urban areas of Indonesia in the twenty-first century will depend on the success of the government to provide solutions to the following issues: population growth, urbanisation, household and labour income, human resources and a lack of supervision. The establishment of day-to-day supervision and the introduction of a Water Consumers Organisation (WCO) will provide better control over the PDAMs. Development of human resources conducive to the needs of PDAMs is seen as the firmest foundation towards the sustainable provision of clean water in the urban sector of Indonesia.