Tribespeople marginalized by water bill: Experts<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The bill on water resources, which has been widely criticized for
\nregarding water as a commodity, does not guarantee the rights of
\nethnic minority groups and poor people to access to clean and
\naffordable water, experts say.<\/p>\n
Agus Maryono, a lecturer at the school of technology of
\nYogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University, raised his concerns on
\nMonday over the issue during a discussion.<\/p>\n
\"The bill has failed to guarantee the rights of indigenous
\ntribes for access to water. As minority groups, they will suffer
\nthe most if the bill is endorsed,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The bill on water resources recognizes the existence of ethnic
\nminority groups, but articles in the bill fail to protect them,
\nsaid Agus, pointing to Paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 6.<\/p>\n
Paragraph 2 stipulates that the central government and local
\nadministration must consider the ancestral rights of indigenous
\ntribes in exploiting water resources, as long as the
\nconsideration of tribal interests does not contradict national
\ninterest or the law.<\/p>\n
However, Paragraph 3 states that the government and local
\nadministration need only consider those ancestral rights that
\nwere recorded in local regulations.<\/p>\n
\"The articles are awkward. I am afraid there will be problems
\nin its implementation ... Most indigenous tribes have yet to
\nregister with local administrations,\" Agus said.<\/p>\n
There are some 300 officially recognized indigenous tribes,
\nwhich comprise some 12 million of the nation's population. The
\nfigure does not reflect the total number of indigenous tribes in
\nIndonesia, because some tribes live in forests or other remote
\nareas and do not have direct contact with the modern world.<\/p>\n
Fellow lecturer Budi Wignyosukarto concurred with Agus, saying
\nthat the bill had sidelined the rights of indigenous tribes.<\/p>\n
\"This is not fair. Some of them have managed their water
\nresources for hundreds of years, but they would not be able to do
\nthis if investors exploit their springs,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Desiana V. of Mercubuana University criticized the bill for
\nfailing to cover wells, which has been considered groundwater.<\/p>\n
She pointed out that the wells of some poor Jakartans had
\ndried out because their wealthy neighbors dug wells hundreds of
\nmeters deep, thus diverting all the water from the underground
\nsource.<\/p>\n
\"There should be regulations over the issue, particularly on
\nhow deep people can dig their wells,\" she said.<\/p>\n
The experts also said these issues all stemmed from the bill's
\nbasic assumption that water was an economic commodity, rather
\nthan social commodity.<\/p>\n
\"This is the root of the problem. They consider water as an
\neconomic commodity instead of a fixed asset,\" Budi stressed,
\nurging the revision of the bill.<\/p>\n
Soegijapranata Catholic University economist Wiyanto Hadipuro
\nsaid he strongly opposed the bill, as it opened the door for
\nauthorities to apply a market-based mechanism to water.<\/p>\n
\"There should be limitations and requirements for water
\ninvestment,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Gatot Irianto, water specialist at the Bogor Institute of
\nAgriculture, said the bill would only provide greater benefits to
\nthe private sector and not the public, let alone indigenous
\npeople.<\/p>\n
\"The investors know that water will be scarce in the future.
\nThey might have land with springs today, but they don't touch it
\nuntil water becomes scarce and then, they step in,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Gatot expressed his fears of a possible monopoly of water
\nresources by the private sector. \"This is likely to happen, but
\ndo people know about it?\"<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, legislator M. Rosyid Hidayat of the Reform
\nFaction said the bill might still be revised because the House of
\nRepresentatives Commission IV on infrastructure and
\ntelecommunications affairs had postponed the deliberation until
\nJanuary.<\/p>\n
The Commission believed that the bill needed to be promoted
\nmore among government institutions and the people.<\/p>\n
However, legislators from the Indonesian Democratic Party of
\nStruggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction said the delay would not change
\nthe bill.<\/p>\n
The bill has caused much controversy, not only among the
\npublic but also among government ministries, mainly because it
\nconsiders water as an economic, not a social, commodity.<\/p>\n
The government has admitted that the bill's endorsement was
\nconnected to the last disbursement of a US$300 million loan under
\nthe 1999 World Bank-sponsored Water Resources Sector Adjustment
\nLoan (Watsal).<\/p>",
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