VOA标准英语2010年-Jakarta Struggles to Provide Clean Wat

Like many big cities in the developing world, the city of Jakarta, with a population of nine million people, is struggling to provide clean water to all its residents. In some poor neighborhoods international organizations are trying to help, but, their impact is minimal¹ because the infrastructure² problems are so complex and expensive to fix.

Sara Schonhardt | Jakarta 04 August 2010
 Windows Media
Photo: VOA – S. Schonhardt
The well water these women use to wash clothes is cloudy and brackish³. Since piped water is still limited in Penjaringan, they mix it with bleach⁴ and keep the clean water for drinking
Water flowing from an open tap is a luxury for only a few people in Penjaringan, one of Jakarta's densest⁵ neighborhoods. The French-run PT Palyja, one of two private companies that control Jakarta's water supply, provides only a communal⁶ tank for the local residents to use. Even the smallest daily activity, like brushing one's teeth, requires a trip to the tank, where people pay a large portion of their meager⁷ salaries for containers of cloudy, brackish water.

But in 2008 life changed for about 55 families in Penjaringan when the international aid organization Mercy Corps⁸ installed a separate tank and ran water lines to households able to pay the $20 start-up fee.

The program known as Master Meter provided these families with ease of access, cleaner water and lower costs. The container water is at least twice as expensive as the running water from the Mercy Corps program. Ibu Rosecta, who makes sweet frozen popsicles to sell to neighborhood children, says access to clean, running water has saved her family money.

She says lower costs have eased her family's financial burden because they used to spend much more on water. 

Jakarta's water problems start with poor infrastructure that allows human waste and rubbish to contaminate supplies that travel roughly 80 kilometers from the hills where Jakarta's main reservoir is located. Even after being processed at the city's water treatment plants the water takes another journey through leaky pipes that ensure it is no longer drinkable once it reaches people's homes.

Firdaus Ali works at Jakarta's water regulatory body. He says supply shortages and badly maintained pipes keep water from getting where it is needed.

"The main issue is we don't have enough raw water for Jakarta. And the second one is the leakage," he said. "The water losses are so huge. I can tell you around 50 percent of the total water that we produce becomes non-revenue for the system."

Another problem is access. Connecting informal communities to the city's water pipeline⁹ is a challenge because many are living on the land illegally. Piping water to these neighborhoods would formalize them, says Firdaus.

"That's why the city of Jakarta said no direct access to the community but we can provide them with the Master Meter, we can also provide them through water kiosks and also public hydrants," he said.

 VOA – S. Schonhardt
A small group controls the communal water tank, forcing residents to pay high prices for containers of water that they then must cart back to their houses in Penjaringan, one of Jakarta's densest neighborhoods

What happens in many poor neighborhoods is that a small group takes control of the water kiosk or communal tank and sets its own tariffs¹⁰ for the water it sells by container. Firdaus says these middlemen often charge exorbitant¹¹ rates. Since Mercy Corps began providing running water to Penjaringan, the men who sell water by container have been complaining about lost revenues.

Pak Wiranto, the neighborhood leader, is not sympathetic. He says the people here are poor. The middlemen would be free to continue selling to them if it was at a price they could afford.

While the middlemen inflate¹² the retail¹³ price, the distributors say the government sets prices artificially low. The PT Palyja water company has repeatedly asked the government to raise water tariffs. It says it needs more money to bring better water to more people.

Other developing countries also face problems with inequitable pricing and raw water shortages - which is what really keeps communities from having clean, piped water. Mercy Corps says they cannot expand their program because of inadequate¹⁴ water supplies.

Bringing more water to Jakarta will require investment in new and improved infrastructure. Officials say efforts are already underway, but for now in areas like Penjaringan the poor continue to pay more for less water.

 

1 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

2 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

3 brackish   

adj.混有盐的；咸的

参考例句：

• Brackish waters generally support only a small range of faunas.咸水水域通常只能存活为数不多的几种动物。
• The factory has several shallow pools of brackish water.工厂有几个浅的咸水池。

4 bleach   

vt.使漂白；vi.变白；n.漂白剂

参考例句：

• These products don't bleach the hair.这些产品不会使头发变白。
• Did you bleach this tablecloth?你把这块桌布漂白了吗？

5 densest   

密集的( dense的最高级 )； 密度大的； 愚笨的； （信息量大得）难理解的

参考例句：

• Past Botoi some of the densest jungle forests on Anopopei grew virtually into the water. 过了坊远湾，岛上的莽莽丛林便几乎直长到水中。
• Earth is the densest of all of these remaining planets. 地球是所剩下行星中最致密的星球。

6 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

7 meager   

adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的

参考例句：

• He could not support his family on his meager salary.他靠微薄的工资无法养家。
• The two men and the woman grouped about the fire and began their meager meal.两个男人同一个女人围着火，开始吃起少得可怜的午饭。

8 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

9 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

10 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

11 exorbitant   

adj.过分的；过度的

参考例句：

• More competition should help to drive down exorbitant phone charges.更多的竞争有助于降低目前畸高的电话收费。
• The price of food here is exorbitant. 这儿的食物价格太高。

12 inflate   

vt.使膨胀，使骄傲，抬高（物价）

参考例句：

• The buyers bid against each other and often inflate the prices they pay.买主们竞相投标，往往人为地提高价钱。
• Stuart jumped into the sea and inflated the liferaft.斯图尔特跳到海里给救生艇充气。

13 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

14 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。