Yogyakarta dry spell good for business
A water crisis in Yogyakarta’s Gunungkidul regency has been a blessing in disguise for a group of people who run a water business.
The Water Users Group sells clean water from a well in Wonosari, Gunungkidul. Each day, more than a dozen 5,000-liter water trucks line up to get the water that is then resold at between Rp 80,000 and Rp 120,000 a tank depending on the distance it is transported.
The head of the group, Anto, said between 12 and 15 water trucks routinely took water from the group, with each truck making six trips a day.
He said that the Rp 12,000 fee required from each truckload was used to pay for the cost of the fuel used to pump out water from the well. “We also use the money for maintenance and workers’ wages,” Anto said.
He said the group had to raise the collection fee from Rp 10,000 to Rp 12,000 a truck this year because of the increase in fuel prices last October.
“Fewer water trucks get their water supplies now compared to last year, when at least 20 water trucks would come to obtain their supplies here,” he said.
A tanker driver, Budi, said that he sold water at between Rp 75,000 and Rp 120,000 a tank.
“If the location is near or around here, I sell it at Rp 75,000, but if the place is far away like Tanjungsari district, I sell for around Rp 100,000 because of the larger amount of fuel used,” he told The Jakarta Post.
On average, Budi said that he could sell six to eight tanks of water a day. He could earn a profit of between Rp 200,000 to Rp 250,000 daily after deducting Rp 120,000 for fuel costs and Rp 72,000 in collection fees.
“I also have to pay a daily rent of Rp 100,000 to the truck owner. It’s not a bad way to earn a living,” said the father of two from Wonosari.
Another driver, Sarjono, said that selling water was a regular sideline business during the dry season. However, he said demand for clean water had dropped this year compared to 2005.
“I could make 10 trips a day last year but because of people’s increased economic hardship, these days demand for water has dropped. To be able to sell six tanks is good,” Sarjono said.
Most of his customers telephone him after seeing the phone number on the side of his tanker.
“We also go around (dry areas) asking people if they need water,” Sarjono said.
A customer, Sariyem, 70, from Panggang, Gunungkidul, said she had been buying water from the group to meet her family’s daily needs.
“I bought a tankful of water for Rp 80,000 last month, but it costs Rp 110,000 now,” Sariyem said.
A 5,000-liter container of water lasted her family about three weeks, she said.
© of The Jakarta Post