Most Of Jakarta's Groundwater Still Contaminated - Cholera, Diarrhea Likely If Drunk - Jakarta Post

Studies have shown most of Jakarta's ground water is polluted with E. Coli and Coliform which can cause diarrhea and life-threatening cholera. Jakarta's water operators still do not have connections to a lot of the city so many residents use wells and have no access to clean water.

The 2006 Human Development Report said the urban poor spend more than others on water by either buying bottled water or raw water in jerricans. The report said this socioeconomic group needed then to spend more of their budget on kerosene to boil jerrican water to ensure it was safe for consumption.

"This is the dilemma ... the government should invest more on clean water access for the people, but due to budget constraints ... (from the) bureaucracy, people should take the initiative to provide themselves with clean water," Rieneke Rolos, deputy project director for the Aman Tirta (Safe Water System) program said.

Rieneke spoke at a seminar which was part of a one-day conference on Indonesia's water problems held by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The USAID seminar was held in conjunction with the Indo Water 2007 conference and exhibition at the Jakarta Convention Center.

EDIT

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailcity.asp?fileid=20070625.D04&irec=3

I bet their government works faster than ours.

Couldn't we just send them some of JPak's solar ovens?