Activists say no to water privatization<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A group of private citizens expressed wariness on Thursday
\nover the government's plan to privatize water resources
\nmanagement, citing that such a measure could hamper the public's
\naccess to fresh and affordable water.<\/p>\n
\"The government's plan to give a large stake to a private firm
\nin managing water will adversely affect people, especially the
\npoor,\" said Nila Ardianthie, coordinator of a group calling
\nitself the Coalition for People's Rights of Water Resources in a
\ndiscussion with the media.<\/p>\n
Nila was responding to the government's privatization plan
\nthat was included in a draft bill on water resources which could
\nbe sent to the House of Representatives by the end of this month.<\/p>\n
The coalition was said to group some 30 non-governmental
\ngroups including the International NGO Forum on Indonesian
\nDevelopment (INFID) and the Indonesian Forum on Globalization
\n(INFOG).<\/p>\n
Nila said it would not be good because the government's
\nprivatization plan was consistent with World Bank (WB)
\nrecommendations under the Water Resources Sector Adjustment Loan
\n(WATSAL).<\/p>\n
WATSAL, Nila said, was one of WB's programs which obliges the
\ngovernment to build necessary infrastructure by linking up with
\nprivate companies, due to the fact that many government-run
\nutilities continued to be inefficient and wasteful, or even
\ncorrupt. She added that it would require an amendment to the law.<\/p>\n
While similar WB privatization programs have been very
\nsuccessful in other countries, the groups feared that corruption
\nwas so deep-rooted here, that it would just be another
\nopportunity for companies to take advantage of the poor.<\/p>\n
Sameer Dossani, another activist from the United States-based
\nCitizens Network on Essential Services said water was closely
\nrelated to human rights.<\/p>\n
\"Access to affordable water is part of human rights, the
\ngovernment must ensure that all citizens have access to
\naffordable water,\" Dossani said.<\/p>\n
Dossani remarked that many residents were forced to drill
\ntheir own wells to get water, but in some cases, the water was
\npolluted.<\/p>\n
\"Around 2.4 million people a year die of diseases resulting
\nfrom unclean and unsafe water,\" said Dossani, without
\ndistinguishing which portion of that number were victims of
\nunclean well water.<\/p>\n
Dossani also remarked that water resources management was a
\npotential issue which could cause social conflict.<\/p>\n
\"That's why issues on water resources management must be
\nhandled democratically by involving greater participation from
\nthe public. Otherwise, social conflict would be inevitable,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
As the privatization policy may possibly endanger the public's
\naccess to affordable water, the coalition urged the government to
\ndrop the new bill.<\/p>\n
Access to safe drinking water was among the commitments agreed
\nupon by the Indonesian government and others at the recently
\nconcluded Earth Summit in South Africa.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/activists-say-no-to-water-privatization-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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