The capability of existing clean water supply facilities in Lampung is still very limited. Many people still have to rely on ground water from wells and polluted rivers,"
Bandar Lampung, Lampung (ANTARA News) - The Lampung provincial administration has signed a memorandum of understanding with Korea Water Corporation Resources and Lotte Engineering and Construction Co.Ltd to build clean drinking water supply systems in the region.

Drinking water supply facilities existing in Bandar Lampung were now meeting only 30 percent of the public`s needs while in other areas their capacity was only about 10 percent, Lampung Governor of Sjahroedin ZP said here Friday.

He hoped the cooperation with the Korean company would result in a 50-percent increase in the fulfillment of the public`s need for clean drinking water.

"The capability of existing clean water supply facilities in Lampung is still very limited. Many people still have to rely on ground water from wells and polluted rivers ," the governor said.

He said the provincial administration strongly supported the Korean company`s intention to invest in clean water supply facilities.

Governor Sjahroedin said the signing of the memorandum of understanding was a concrete step of the Lampung provincial administration to meet the community`s need for drinking water through a cooperation scheme with the private sector.

"The cooperation is in accordance with Government Regulation No.67/2010 as reaffirmed by Presidential Decree No.56/2011 regarding cooperation between government and the private sector in meeting the people needs for energy, waste management, roads, ports and clean water infrastructure," he said.

He said Lumapung province`s population had now reached nine million with 1.9 million households. Until now, modern clean water supply facilities were only meeting 20-30 percent of the people`s needs.

"The availability of the clean water is already served by a network of piping system while the rest are still using ground water wells," the governor said.

He added the uniformly water supply program requires a substantial funding and it can not fully rely on the government funds.

"The limitations of the funds needs a breakthrough solution, one of which is to establish a cooperation between the administration and private sector," the governor added.

Sjahroedin said the administration appreciated the interest from both developers from Korea to invest in the province which is expected to be continued in other forms of cooperation.

"The signing of the MoU is the first step in efforts to accelerate the preparation of feasibility study to provide clean water in Lampung," he added.

The targeted areas of the clean water supply program planning are Bandarlampung, Metro, South Lampung and Pringsewu.(*)

Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
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