New draft regulation may require farmers to pay for water<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government has sparked controversy by proposing a regulation
\nthat will oblige farmers to pay for irrigation water, a move that
\ncould significantly raise agricultural production costs.<\/p>\n
Article 7(5) of the draft government regulation, a copy of
\nwhich was made available to The Jakarta Post, states water
\ncharges for agricultural land will be decided based on the
\nirrigation fees paid by farmers to their local agricultural
\nassociations.<\/p>\n
Water charges would be payable by farmers for using water
\nsourced from irrigation systems, while irrigation fees would be
\npayable for the maintenance of irrigation infrastructure.<\/p>\n
The extra charges would increase production costs for millions
\nof farmers. Some 7.1 million hectares of agricultural land is
\ndependent on irrigation out of a total of 11 million hectares of
\nfarming land across the country.<\/p>\n
At present, only tap water consumers, power suppliers and
\nother profit-oriented users must pay water charges.<\/p>\n
The government expects to complete the draft regulation as
\nsoon as the House of Representatives endorses the water resources
\nbill, which is currently being deliberated.<\/p>\n
Both the government and the House have repeatedly maintained
\nthat farmers would not be charged for the water they use to
\nirrigate their land.<\/p>\n
The possibility of a U-turn has been suspected by some non-
\ngovernmental organizations given that the water resources bill
\nadopts the concept of full-cost recovery for irrigation
\ndevelopments.<\/p>\n
The NGOs have also questioned the need for an article in the
\nwater resources bill that requires agricultural enterprises,
\nincluding plantations, fish farms, fishing companies and
\nlivestock rearers to pay water charges.<\/p>\n
Nugroho, from the Farmers Initiative for an Ecological
\nLivelihood and Democracy (Field), said on Thursday that the draft
\ngovernment regulation clearly reflected the government's
\nintention to charge all water users.<\/p>\n
\"We know the new concept legalizes full-cost recovery for
\nwater developments, meaning farmers must pay for all the water
\nthey use to cover the development of irrigation infrastructure.
\nThe draft government regulation has been created to clearly
\nlegitimize the concept as the water resources bill is open to
\ninterpretation,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution stipulates that water and
\nthe natural resources contained in the earth must be managed by
\nthe state so as to ensure the optimum well-being of the people.<\/p>\n
Nila Ardhianie of the Indonesian Forum on Globalization
\n(INFOG) warned of social chaos if the government pushed ahead
\nwith the regulation.<\/p>\n
She said that farmers in South Africa, for example, had
\ndestroyed infrastructure to get water as they could not afford to
\npay their water bills.<\/p>\n
\"The government must realize that water is not a commodity. It
\nis a gift from God like the air, so that everyone must have
\nunhindered access to it,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Given the new concept, she said, only powerful economic
\nsectors would benefit.<\/p>\n
She called on the government to hold a transparent public
\ndebate on the water resources bill and its executory regulations.<\/p>\n
However, Adi Sarwoko Soeronegoro, the director of water
\nresources utilization at the Ministry of Resettlement and
\nRegional Infrastructure, and Soedarmanto, the head of the
\ninstitutions' division, said the article would only be
\nimplemented when farmers had sufficient financial capacity.<\/p>\n
Soedarmanto said the article might not be implemented even 10
\nyears after the regulation came into effect.<\/p>\n
However, this is not apparent from the draft government
\nregulation, even though it guarantees a grace period before the
\nlevying of water charges.<\/p>\n
When questioned about this, Soedarmanto said that the
\ngovernment would further study the draft regulation.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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