The Good with the Bad
This section unfortunately has more “bad” than “good” content. You have to remember, Indonesia is still a 3rd world country. Their capital city of Jakarta, with a population of over 10 million people, doesn’t even have a municipal sewage system in place!
An attempt is certainly underway in making Jakarta appear like it’s a modern city. There are sections of the city that have wonderful, modern high rises. A lot of building is currently in progress for high rise condominium development and new office tower construction, and cranes can be seen all over the city. (You’d think you were living in Calgary in the late 70’s!) Jakarta has some wonderful shopping malls, many with "high end" designer stores, that you'd see in New York City or Paris.
Unfortunately, there is also a lot of poverty in Jakarta, and mixed in with the modern city, are what I’ll refer to as “shantytown villas”. As an example, nestled between the prestigious “Jakarta Intercultural School” and some very exclusive mansions, you’ll find an assortment of tin roofed shacks pictured below. This water canal runs adjacent to the JIS school, and it would be questionable how much of the water is raw sewage?
An attempt is certainly underway in making Jakarta appear like it’s a modern city. There are sections of the city that have wonderful, modern high rises. A lot of building is currently in progress for high rise condominium development and new office tower construction, and cranes can be seen all over the city. (You’d think you were living in Calgary in the late 70’s!) Jakarta has some wonderful shopping malls, many with "high end" designer stores, that you'd see in New York City or Paris.
Unfortunately, there is also a lot of poverty in Jakarta, and mixed in with the modern city, are what I’ll refer to as “shantytown villas”. As an example, nestled between the prestigious “Jakarta Intercultural School” and some very exclusive mansions, you’ll find an assortment of tin roofed shacks pictured below. This water canal runs adjacent to the JIS school, and it would be questionable how much of the water is raw sewage?
The Bad ...
The Good ...
Here is a BBC News story about some of the Indonesian Mega-Rich. How much of their money was acquired by legal means, and not by graft, bribes, or tax evasion?
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-28570422
Water in Jakarta, it kind of stinks!
You're considered fortunate if you live in an area of the city that happens to be connected to municipal water. The water quality is somewhat better than the ground water, that you most likely pump up from your deep water well. Well water is not drinkable, as there is a chance that it could be contaminated with pathogenic, disease causing bacteria, such as e-coli. Most houses have septic tanks, and if they’re old or not properly maintained, they leach contaminants into the ground water. In some poorer parts of the city, raw sewage is drained straight into nearby rivers and streams.
Since neither the municipal water nor your well water is safe to drink, you must boil your water, or use bottled water for all your drinking and cooking requirements. Most residents purchase 5 gallon containers of water from local stores or vendors, or have it delivered to their house, usually on a weekly basis.
During the dry months of the year, your water well could possibly run dry. If you are connected to municipal water, you can manually switch to it and bypass your well water connection. It unfortunately isn’t a reliable source of water, when you might need it the most.
Since neither the municipal water nor your well water is safe to drink, you must boil your water, or use bottled water for all your drinking and cooking requirements. Most residents purchase 5 gallon containers of water from local stores or vendors, or have it delivered to their house, usually on a weekly basis.
During the dry months of the year, your water well could possibly run dry. If you are connected to municipal water, you can manually switch to it and bypass your well water connection. It unfortunately isn’t a reliable source of water, when you might need it the most.
The northern part of Jakarta (closest to the ocean) has virtually no water wells that have not been contaminated with salt water, as the ground is sinking. Below, water is delivered to the less affluent residents of the city by these means.
You take your chances walking in Jakarta!
If you're walking around in Jakarta, you'll notice a lack of sidewalks, they just don't exist in many areas! If you're not used to it, it can be kind of nerve racking at first. Motorcycles wiz by you very close, and sometimes at high speed. If you're crossing a street, you may have to work your way through traffic if it's congested, using a "waving hand" gesture, giving drivers an expectation that they won't run you down! The rule "always look both ways when you cross the road" applies on a divided roadway, because motorcycles will ride on the opposite side of the road, during times of heavy traffic. If you happen to find a sidewalk, you have to be careful to look down and watch where you're walking, as there are many uneven sidewalks that you could trip on, or holes that you could fall through!
Service Orientated Projects
The grade 10 students at JIS participate in a special project during one week in May. They visit various Service Orientated projects around the city of Jakarta, and film a short documentary on how these projects impact the lives of many Jakartian's. Below is a documentary that my son was involved in at JIS.