OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF WATER INFRASTRUCTURE IN PACITAN REGENCY, EAST JAVA, INDONESIA

The problems of HIPPAM as a community organization to provide clean water in Pacitan Regency can be seen because of their inability to operate and maintain the clean water infrastructure which is the key aspects of a sustainable clean water service. They also cannot keep the infrastructure work properly. There are several possible factors that cause the problems such as, the lack of the awareness and commitment of voluntary water committees, inadequate finance due to low tariff, and limited knowledge of the voluntary water committees in managing the services. Lack of ownership sense and lack of community support in projects are other causes of the unwillingness of the community to use and maintain the infrastructures. The research aim is to contribute to a better performance of water infrastructure in Pacitan Regency, Indonesia The research explores the influence of voluntary water committees on the operation and maintenance of water infrastructure. It investigates the community and water users� involvement in the operation and maintenance of water infrastructure, contributing to the performance of water infrastructure. The research strategy is a survey, done in two organizations in two sites. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used in order to enrich the data through interview and questionnaire. In the research, it is found that the voluntary water committees have high influence in the operation and maintenance of water infrastructure. Strong and adequate motivation of the voluntary water committee continued membership and commitment to perform the tasks satisfactorily are an important factor to strengthen and to sustain the effective operation and maintenance of the water infrastructure. The motivation of the voluntary water committee in the operation and maintenance are social and normative incentives. The voluntary water committees also involve and mobilize the water users and the local leaders to actively participate in the operation and maintenance. This collective action is strategy to overcome the problems in the operation and maintenance and to increase the sense of belonging