Evaluation of municipal water pricing policy :: The Case of PDAM Padang

SUBCHANDRI, Dr. Bagus Santoso, M.Soc.Sc

2004 | Tesis | Magister Ekonomika Pembangunan

Penelitian ini bertujuan mengevaluasi kebijakan penetapan harga/tarif air di PDAM Padang. Studi ini dilakukan dengan mengevaluasi data yang dikumpulkan secara qulitatif. Data yang digunakan dalam riset ini di antaranya adalah pendapatan perusahaan, biaya-biaya sehubungan dengan pengadaaan air, jumlah air yang diproduksi, disalurkan dan hilang, jumlah masyarakat yang terlayani dan cakupan pelayanan. Kebijakan harga di PDAM Padang dievaluasi dengan menggunakan teori-teori harga barang publik. Teori-teori seperti elastisitas permintaan, prinsip pemulihan biaya, harga marginal, kemandirian keuangan, efisiensi, keadilan, kesederhanaan administrasi, dan penerimaan secara politis digunakan dalam menganalisa kebijakan harga air di PDAM Padang. Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa : (1) harga air yang berlaku di PDAM Padang disinyalir terlalu rendah, jika efisiensi tidak diperhitungkan. Tingginya tingkat kehilangan air merupakan salah satu penyebab utama ketidakefisienan; (2) keuntungan rendahnya harga air cenderung dinikmati oleh kelompok rumah tangga yang tidak masuk dalam kategori miskin; (3) kebijakan tarif yang berlaku sulit untuk dikelola karena struktur tarif yang kompleks.

This research attempts to evaluate the current municipal water pricing policy in PDAM Padang. This study was done by evaluating the data collected using the empirical qualitative method. Data used in this research among other things were company’s revenue, the cost of providing water, number of water production, distribution and loss, number of people served and service coverage of the company, etc. The pricing policy in PDAM Padang was evaluated through the theories of public pricing. Theories such as Price Elasticity of Demand, Full Cost Recovery, Marginal Cost, Financial Viability, Efficiency, Equity, Administrative Simplicity and Political Acceptability were used in analyzing the municipal water pricing policy in PDAM Padang. The research found that : (1) The current water tariff in PDAM Padang was suspected to be underpriced, if efficiency was not brought into consideration. The high water loss is one of the main factor of the inefficiency; (2) The benefits of low prices had tended to leak out to the non poor households (3) the current water tariff was difficult to administer.

Kata Kunci : PDAM,Kebijakan Harga, water pricing, elasticity, full cost recovery, marginal cost, financial viability, efficiency, equity, administrative simplicity, political acceptability, underpriced