Farmers assured of free water supply<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The House of Representatives and the government assured on
\nThursday that the bill on water resources would not deprive
\nfarmers of water for their farmland.<\/p>\n
Erman Suparno, chairman of the House special committee
\ndeliberating the bill on water resources, said farmers would not
\npay for water used on their farmland.<\/p>\n
\"Water for farming and for noncommercial use will be free,\"
\nhe said at a seminar on sustainable water resources management.<\/p>\n
Article 41 (1) of the bill on water resources, which is
\ncurrently being deliberated by the House, stipulates that water
\nfor farmland managed by farmer associations would be given the
\nright to use water without charge.<\/p>\n
But Article 42 (2) states that the farming business, including
\nplantations, fish farms, fishery firms and animal husbandry
\noutfits must pay water charges.<\/p>\n
This has created anxiety among the country's farmers, who fear
\nthat they would have to pay for the water they use for farming
\npurposes.<\/p>\n
Erman said that farmers would be supplied with enough water
\nfree of charge.<\/p>\n
To avoid charges for water used for farming, the operators of
\nriver management must be put under the auspices of state-owned
\ncompanies, which would subsidize farmers, Erman said.<\/p>\n
Director of Water Resources Utilization Adi Sarwoko
\nSoeronegoro concurred with Erman, saying that farmers would only
\nhave to maintain the irrigation infrastructure under an
\nassociation and spend money on infrastructure maintenance.<\/p>\n
According to data from state-owned river management company
\nJasa Tirta I, which manages the operation of Brantas River in
\nEast Java, at present, 70 percent to 80 percent of water usage
\nwas for irrigating farmland without charge.<\/p>\n
The remainder goes to tap water companies, electricity plants
\nand other consumers.<\/p>\n
But the government imposes higher taxes on farmers using water
\nfrom the irrigation infrastructure than the taxes paid by those
\nwho do not use the irrigation system, the data says.<\/p>\n
Analysts fear that if farmers are obliged to pay for water
\nused on their farmland, their operational costs would rise and in
\nthe end the price of crops would increase.<\/p>\n
Erman, however, urged the government to privatize inefficient
\nprovincial tap water companies (PDAM) across the country as part
\nof efforts to distribute tap water to more people.<\/p>\n
\"This will help more people get tap water without paying an
\nexpensive price,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Adi said Indonesia was threatened by a water crisis
\ndue to a number of factors, including the increasing population
\nand its unbalanced distribution, illegal logging, land conversion
\nof water catchment areas, uncontrolled pumping of groundwater and
\nwater pollution.<\/p>\n
\"So it would be no surprise if in 2025 our country suffers a
\nwater crisis,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's water availability stands at 15,500 cubic meters
\nper capita per year, far higher than the world's average water
\navailability of 600 cubic meters per capita per year.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the abundant water resource is not distributed
\nequally across the country.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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