Country report on water legitimizes privatization<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Indonesia country report prepared for the World Water Forum
\nonly justifies the government's plan to privatize water
\nmanagement but fails to clarify the implications of
\nprivatization, analysts and activists say.<\/p>\n
Yanuar Nugroho of Business Watch Indonesia said on Friday that
\ndespite all the problems associated with water, the report only
\nendorsed the World Bank's Water Resources Sector Adjustment Loan
\n(Watsal) scheme, in which water is treated as a commodity.<\/p>\n
\"The new concept in managing water will treat water as a
\ncommodity. So, those who can pay for water will get water ... the
\ngovernment fails to explain this to the public,\" he told The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The country's water report disclosed 80 percent of Indonesia's
\npopulation does not have access to piped water, and an annual
\ninvestment of Rp 5.1 trillion (US$570) is needed to increase the
\npopulation's access to piped water to 40 percent by 2015.<\/p>\n
It also said that the government had limited scope for
\ninvestment in developing water infrastructure, and, therefore, it
\nsaid adjustment of laws and regulations were required to ensure
\nthe sustainability of water resource infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Pattimura, from the International NGOs Forum on Indonesian
\nDevelopment (INFID), said the report described the misery of many
\nIndonesians but this was used as a pretext for inviting private
\nfirms to manage the country's water resources under the
\nprivatization plan.<\/p>\n
Pattimura demanded that the government and House of
\nRepresentatives not push ahead with privatization, but rather
\nconsult with people across the country about the water resources
\nbull to reach the best concept for managing water.<\/p>\n
According to Pattimura and Yanuar, the water resources bill
\nbasically invites private firms to take part in managing water,
\nnot only its distribution but also the control of water
\nresources.<\/p>\n
\"If water management from upstream to downstream is given to
\nprivate firms, what is the position of the general public?\" asked
\nYanuar.<\/p>\n
\"But sadly, the government has been concealing the
\nprivatization process under the name of water policy reform.\"<\/p>\n
He warned that in many countries, privatization had failed to
\nexpand water distribution.<\/p>\n
Private firms would be responsible only to their shareholders,
\nand not to the public, and therefore, the public would be left
\nout in the cold when anything went wrong with the company's
\npolicy, he said.<\/p>\n
Yanuar cited the failure of the privatization project in
\nJakarta to provide better water for customers. Despite this, the
\nprovincial government was to raise water charges next month for
\nthe third time in five years.<\/p>\n
Besides, private firms managing water had to be financed by
\nthe World Bank and other international financial institutions,
\nmeaning that they had not enough money to invest in water
\ndevelopment, he said.<\/p>\n
However, the government's plan to legalize the privatization
\nof water through the water resource bill has drawn protests from
\nvarious parties, including non-governmental organizations,
\nfarmers' and consumers' associations.<\/p>\n
The farmers' associations, for example, have complained that
\nthe bill would oblige farmers to pay for irrigation water,
\nsomething that would definitely increase their production costs.<\/p>\n
Environmentalists also said the bill failed to require
\nenvironmental impact analyses (Amdal) and social impact analyses
\nregarding water resources management.<\/p>\n
The bill also stipulates that water conservation charges are
\nobligatory, but fails to say whether some of the money will be
\nused to improve environmental conditions.<\/p>\n
The government has repeatedly denied the accusations, but it
\nwould seem to be failing to give satisfactory explanation to its
\nopponents.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/country-report-on-water-legitimizes-privatization-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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