Through a small donation program, an organization providing clean water services has revived itself and begun to provide good quality service to its customers.
Malang. Abdul Wakid marched enthusiastically into the HIPPAM (Himpunan Penduduk Pemakai Air Minum or association of drinking water consumers) office in Arjowinangun, Malang, East Java, without paying any heed to the people already occupying the small space.
This 40-year-old man from Arjowinangun Sub-district, who makes his living as a farmer, went immediately to the cashier and pulled out a wad of Rp. 1,000 notes and put them on the counter. Yuni, the cashier, quickly sorted through the pile of water bills on her desk and calculated the total owed under the watchful eyes of Wakid.
Suddenly, the voice of Tony Noermawan, the community chief of Arjowinangun, who happened to be in the office at that time, broke Wakid’s concentration. ”Pak Wakid, are you finding any difference in the current HIPPAM service than now?” With a wide smile, Wakid answered, ”I held off paying my bill 17 times. Now I am paying it off in full because the water is flowing reliably now, not cutting off and leaving us dry like before.”
Wakid is one of the residents of Arjowinangun Sub-district, Kedung Kandang District, Malang, who is now being served well by HIPPAM, which pipes in water to the homes of the people of Arjowinangun. Before ESP’s small grant program provided Rp. 155 million for the development of a community-based clean water management and sanitation and waste management services, in the area, the people of Arjowinangun faced nothing but difficulty with the discontinuity and unreliability of the HIPPAM water supply. Sometimes there was water, but more often than not, there wasn’t. Even worse, this lack of water led to conflicts among the people of Arjowinangun, with everyone blaming each other for the problem. In the end, most of the residents simply stopped paying their water bills to HIPPAM, because the service was so bad.
On November 2007, LPKP (Lembaga Pengkajian Kemasyarakatan dan Pembangunan or center of study for community and development), grantee of ESP’s grant program, kicked off the implementation of a community-based clean water development system in Arjowinangun Sub-district. The organization also took action to improve the organizational structure and services of HIPPAM.
HIPPAM itself is a communal forum which aims to manage the daily provision of clean water to all area residents. The Arjowinangun HIPPAM forum lists all of the residents in all of the neighborhoods and community units of Arjowinangun Sub-district as customers.
The improvement program included raising the water flow capacity of the water pump from 5.5 liters per second to 10 liters per second, and electrical service from 11,000 watts to 23,000 watts. The water pipe network was also repaired and 60 more homes were connected to the system, while a new panel was installed to ensure a better supply of power. In addition, HIPPAM’s administrative system was upgraded, and its position as a community-based services provider was strengthened through a notary act.
The results of all of these efforts are apparent now. By October 2008, the Arjowinangun HIPPAM had gotten 560 new customers and is now serving a total of 586 families. With support from the new pump, HIPPAM expects to be able to meet the water needs of 1,000 families. From a total of 2,276 families living in Arjowinangun, HIPPAM has the potential to open up more service branches, and could eventually compete with existing water suppliers, such as the PDAM.
With renewed public confidence and support from the local administration, the Arjowinangun HIPPAM water services are pumping new life not only into the organization itself, but into the community it serves.
Catur Rukmiyanti, East Java ESP
