       A Case of Theory Failure of Public Policy    The author is Visiting Senior Lecturer University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. He has been a Board Member of the Jakarta Water Regulatory Body 2005,2010.                                                     !         !      !   !                 Keyword: public policy, public private partnership, water privatization, theory failure. ! It was 12 years (1998,2010) since Jakarta i water have been privatized ii to two International water operators iii , but the service performance is below of what privatization policy had been promised. The existing studies concluded the failure was caused by unsound of private operators with the conclusion privatization was not a no more choice for water services, especially as the international water industries business expansion (Jensen, 2005; Lanti, 2006; Lanti et.al, 2006; Bakker, 2007; Michiko & Andrew, 2008; Willis, 2000, 78, Djamal, 2009, ICIJ, 2003; Al‘Afgani, 2010), as it probed as part of many water privatization failure around the world (PSIRU, 2008; Hall 2009.). In the last five years of my experience and study about the privatization reveals the different finding. The failure of the privatization is caused of public policy failure rather the previous finding –business failure, political actors, or others. The story of modern water service management in Jakarta started since Dutch colonization in 1940s. After independence in 1945, the service has transferred to the local government owned company iv . It was Jakarta’s special purpose vehicle to develop a widely,coverage piped,water,supply of the metropolis. The idea was that groundwater will be reduced significantly due to two objectives: to protect Jakarta from case of land’s subsidence, and to guarantee the water quality service for the people. It achieved because groundwater was not using as a primary water resource of the city residents. In 1996, the company has severe problem to enhance their service due to the financial and management problem. In the same time, the idea of privatization of