His Excellency Ambassador J. Stapleton Roy, USAID Mission Director Terry Myers, Members of the Board of Trustees of DML and IATPI, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press.

It is indeed an honor to speak before you this morning about the partnership between US-AEP and IATPI that we are about to initiate.

IATPI, or the Indonesian Society of Sanitary and Environmental Engineers, was established in 1977. Our objective in creating the Society was to support Indonesia in its development process. And today, we continue to contribute to this commitment.

One of the effects of the economic crisis is that up to 90 of Indonesia�s 300 PDAMs are in danger of terminating service due to the high operational cost.

As a professional organization that has hundreds of members working in the water supply sector, it is in our own interest to support and participate in any activity to help the PDAMs. As such, we sincerely welcome and appreciate the U.S. Government�s contribution of US$400,000 to establish the Water Efficient Team, or WET, activity.

This activity demonstrates the commitment of the U.S. government, through USAID and US-AEP, to supporting Indonesia�s economic recovery process and, specifically, in PDAM�s recovery process. Although this activity may not solve all of PDAM�s problems, the audits that will measure the true extent of the problems, are very important steps.

IATPI�s role in providing 20 IATPI field engineers and providing access to the PDAMs will facilitate the auditing of critical PDAMs in next five-month period.

Our deepest appreciation goes to the United States-Asia Environmental Partnership for the US$20,000 grant that will make our involvement possible. As a side note, the grant will allow us to provide job opportunities for some of our currently unemployed members.

We assure you that at the end of the first phase of WET, our joint efforts will clearly identify PDAMs with the most urgent need for water quality maintenance, the greatest need of assistance, and the greatest number for potential unemployment.

This critical information will help us to define the detailed steps of the second phase of WET.

Mr. Ambassador, ladies, and gentlemen, it is in our own interest to ensure that this activity succeeds. Therefore, on behalf of IATPI, I commit to accomplishing this activity�s objectives.