Indonesians Observe Democracy in Action During Visit to Tigard Indonesians observe democracy
In action during visit to Tigard
1 , The delegation spends a week in Tigard p
x � ��• g p refer.
learning about water operations and The group arrived Sept. 14 and spent a whirl-
Citizen involvementwind week learning as much as possible about city
and county operations.
By BARBARA SHERMAN On Monday, Sept. 15, the day included sessions
on regional water planning, and on Tuesday the
Of the Times q-25--o3 group learned about watershed management at
TIGARD — Tigard is a long way from Clean Water Services and toured Hagg Lake ani the
Samarinda, Indonesia, but it's a great place to learn Joint Water Commission's water treatment plant.
I about democracy in action. The day ended with the delegation attending the
Tigard City Council meeting,
That's exactly what a delegation from the
Southeast Asian country learned last week, which At the meeting, Saila and the others thanked the
` council for its hospitality and for all the educational
was the third visit for some of the representatives.
opportunities. In tum, the council watched two
About 1'/z years ago, Tigard and Washington videos about life in Samarinda and Kutai and how
County formed a partnership with the city of
F services are delivered.
Samarinda 'and the county of Kutai in East The two groups also exchanged gifts and took
Kalimantan, Indonesia, as part of the International group photos.
Resource Cities program through the U.S. Agency Wednesday's schedule included discussions on
for International Development. The International the citizen involvement process and water rate
City/County Management Association implements development,and Thursday's agenda featured a tour
the program. of the new Wilsonville water treatment plant, the
"The focus of the program is to assist emerging Durham sewer treatment plant and public works
democracies in learning more about how we oper- demonstrations.
ate,"said Liz Newton,assistant to the city manager. One of the stops Thursday was at the Quail Court
USAID,which pays travel expenses for participants apartment complex on Greenburg Road, where a
in the program, has also sent two delegations from public works crew was replacing an old,rusting gal-
JAIME VALDEZ/rhe Times Tigard to Indonesia. vanized water pipe with a new copper one.The city
ON THE JOB — Watching public works crew foreman On this visit,the group consisted of Muhammad is pursuing an aggressive replacement program of
Sam Shultz prepare to solder a new copper waterline are Saili, Samarinda's chief executive officer, the old pipes, according to Sam Morrison, water
(from left) Muhammad Saili, Fauzi Jailani, Sophie Lena, Fathurrachman Alhinduan,the water director,Fauzi operations supervisor.
water operations supervisor Sam Morrison and Jailani, a member of the City Council, and Sophie "We try to replace them before a leak starts,"he
Fathurrachman Alhinduan. Lena,a Kalamantan regional coordinator and inter- 0 See INDONESIANS,42
FINDING THE
SOURCE—
�� Fathurrachman
Alhinduan suc-
cessfully locates a
^� water line under
S the tutelage of
Wayne Klement,
r who is the Public
Works
Department's
v
locator.
.y+ BARBARA SNERMAN/
The Times
Indonesians: Samarinda
has a 31-percent water loss
■Continued from Al the waterlines,because they're so
said. "But sometimes we find close to the surface," she said.
that they have been leaking with- "We suggested that they bury
out us knowing it" them deeper. We also explained
Ed Wegner, public works that if someone taps into a line
director,explained to the delega- here,they could get a fine.Here,
tion that one meter feeds the people know there are conse-
small apartment complex, but quences for breaking the law.
that larger complexes would "In Samarinda, only 65 per-
have more meters. "Everyone is cent of the people sign up to
charged the same amount for receive water. Other places, like
water,no matter how much they hotels, have their own water
use,"he said. source.The delegates didn't real-
Sometimes a leak is obvious ize it was safe to drink the tap
if water is seeping to the surface. water in the hotel until Ed told
But to detect hidden leaks, the them it was OK"
Public Works Department also In Samarinda, which has a
uses a leak detector that the oyer- population of about half a mil-
:ator moves along the ground lion, people, the main water
i while wearing ear phones to lis- intake pipe is near the surface of.
ften for muting water.The dele- the river that flows through the
gation members enjoyed trying it city,and Tigard officials suggest-
out and asked how much it cost ed that by lowering it,the water
($500 to$600), would be cleaner.
By comparison, Samarinda The Tigard officials also sug-
has a 3t-percent water loss, gested that the Indonesians start
according to Lena,because leaks an educational campaign about
riga tmdyte�tedand people.itlegai --the importance 4)f having a clean,
tap into lvatet lines. - cel+a iG water"
source
�1,�S, •going to play-a game:.• theraise therates increrri,ptall�_;
—
find the water line," Wegner "One time they asked'what '
said at the entrance to the apart- happened if a citizen disagreed
ment complex.Alhinduan,using with something,and we said that
specialized equipment,found the we have a process,"Newton said,
line beside the entrance road. "We have to build in opportune-
{ Back at the hole where the ties for people to object and raise
I' water pipe had been replaced,a issues.We also made suggestions
i•worker was filling in the trough about how to run meetings"
i with a shovel. "No matter how In Samarinda, the City
much high-tech stuff you have, Council, which has nearly four
you still have to shovel the dirt dozen members,sits up high on a
the old-fashioned way,"Wegner dais above the public.When they
said, break for lunch, they go into a
The group also walked to a back room with their wives,
water meter on Greenburg Road according to Newton.
serving a house in front of the "The public is suspicious
apartment complex. Clark about what they're doing," she
Farrier is the city's meter reader, said."We talked about how gov-
i; and he demonstrated how he ernment works and how deci-
reads meters, hitting all 16,300 sions are made. It was really
—or 700 a day---within the gratifying to see them get
Iwater district's service area over enthused and realize how
an eight-week period. democracy works and that it's
On Friday, the group dis- not always a smooth process.
cussed a planned visit by Tigard "We also suggested that they
1 officials later this year to educate their children about
I Samarinda and attended a Bilal recycling and other issues.Their
Mosque service. The visitors population is not as well educat-
dined in area restaurants and also ed as ours,so they need to start at
had time for shopping before a more basic level"
departing Saturday. The partnership between
This month's visit focused on Samarinda and Tigard is sehed-
water and also citizen involve- uleo to end in November;howev-
ment,according to Newton,and er, the two groups are looking
the visitors learned a lot. into extending the relationship,
i "There, people just tap into according to Newton.
I 1