Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Frustrated residents in outer Jakarta have seized two water trucks and refused to pay increased water rates after their erratic water supply slowed to a trickle.

Two weeks ago, an already-limited water supply in a housing estate in west Jakarta ceased altogether. The water trucks that came to deliver emergency water also demanded extra payment on top of their monthly fees. Angry residents then decided to ensure a free and guaranteed water supply by taking two water trucks hostage last weekend.

"It worked. Now we don't have to pay for the water. We just give them some money voluntarily," said Mr Indrawan, a resident interviewed by a local newspaper.

Residents said that when their water supply stopped, water truck drivers from PAM Lyonnaise Jaya, delivering the emergency water, were demanding extraordinarily high rates for the delivery. At first, the truck drivers demanded 15,000 rupiah per cubic metre. But later, they raised the price to 50,000 rupiah, a significant cost for the average Indonesian worker.

PAM Lyonnaise Jaya has blamed individual truck drivers for the illegal water rate increase. "Reports from customers tell us that a number of truck drivers asked for money, even though the deliveries were scheduled free of charge," said public relations manager Maria Sidabutar. She said water supply had resumed in most households, but the residents have yet to return the water trucks.

Residents in one district of west Jakarta had also complained that they were forced to rise at 2 am in order to collect water before the supply was turned off at 4 am.

But Pam Lyonnaise Jaya defended its irregular supply of water. Ms Maria said the suburb's water supply was interrupted when the firm was trying to extend and improve its water pipes for an increasing number of customers.

A foreign infrastructure consultant said many parts of Jakarta serviced by private water firms suffered from water shortages because the pipework, laid originally by the Jakarta administration, was old. The new company which was partly French-owned did not want to risk more investment, the consultant said. Pam Lyonnaise Jaya was privatised in 1998. Before that, it was run by the Jakarta government.

"When I lived in south Jakarta, I used to have to wake up at 1 am in order to turn on the water. There are not enough water resources built up high enough, so the water pressure is very low," said the consultant. He said foreign companies which had invested in water supply companies faced a dilemma because in order to improve the irregular supply and extend the limited pipe network, they needed to increase water rates. But most residents objected to paying higher water rates.

About 65 per cent of Jakarta's nine million residents do not have access to commercially piped water. Instead, they rely on artesian wells or the city's rivers for water.