Hints of Widodo's approach

[unhappycamper]

http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/SEA-02-080714.html



Hints of Widodo's approach
By Philip Jacobson
Jul 8, '14

JAKARTA - Sixteen years after former ruling dictator Suharto privatized the national capital's piped water system, the long battle for control over it is finally on the verge of an endgame. Its resolution sheds light on how current Jakarta governor and presidential hopeful Joko Widodo would handle prickly public-private investment issues should he win the July 9 polls.

Under Widodo, the Jakarta provincial government recently struck a deal with French utilities giant Suez Environnement SA to take over its subsidiary Palyja, which since 1998 has run the piped network's western half amid continual allegations of corruption and mismanagement.

Under the deal, the city would buy Palyja's shares via state-owned company Jakarta Propertindo (JakPro). A coalition of human-right-to-water activists, however, oppose the plan, and have held it up with a civil lawsuit that seeks to annul Palyja's original contract, which they maintain was forged illegally for the benefit of Suharto and his cronies.

Widodo's administration has approached the activists about a settlement, but any agreement between them has been held up by questions over how the city intends to manage the piped network after it takes charge - namely over whether JakPro will continue to run it for a profit.