Water bill pays scant heed to conservation<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Experts criticized the contents of the water resources bill on
\nWednesday for not paying enough attention to water conservation
\nand giving too much weight to the commercial aspects.<\/p>\n
Budi Widianarko, a senior lecturer at Soegijapranata Catholic
\nUniversity in the Central Java capital of Semarang, said that
\nonly articles 19 to 24 -- six out of a total of 97 articles --
\ntouched on water conservation compared to 32 articles on the
\neconomic aspects of water.<\/p>\n
Apart from a lack of attention to water conservation, the bill
\nrequired the issuance of executory regulations, which meant it
\nwould take a long time before it would become fully effective,
\nBudi said.<\/p>\n
"The economic aspects clearly top the bill's list of
\npriorities, while the environment is at the bottom of the list,"
\nhe said during a discussion on water organized by the
\nInternational NGOs Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID).<\/p>\n
"We are putting our environment at risk with this bill," he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Harry Suryadi, a senior environmental journalist, shared
\nBudi's view.<\/p>\n
"The spirit of the bill is exploitation instead of
\nconservation," he said.<\/p>\n
Citing an example, the bill stipulates that water conservation
\ncharges are obligatory, but fails to say whether some of the
\nmoney will be used to improve environmental conditions.<\/p>\n
"These charges may end up the same as the reforestation dues
\ncollected from forest concession holders. We all know that the
\nposition and use of these funds is unclear," he said.<\/p>\n
Under the bill, water management is defined as covering river
\nwater and groundwater, but no mention is made of forests in
\nupstream and downstream areas.<\/p>\n
He also said the bill failed to require environmental impact
\nanalyses (Amdal) and social impact analyses regarding water
\nresource management.<\/p>\n
The environmental critics have been intensifying their
\nopposition to the water resources bill, submitted by the
\ngovernment to the House of Representatives (DPR) late last year.<\/p>\n
Earlier, a number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) had
\nvoiced opposition to the bill for focusing too much on
\nprivatization.<\/p>\n
They feared that as a result of the bill, farmers would be
\nrequired to pay for irrigation water, while tap water consumers
\nwould have to pay more for their water despite poor water quality
\nand service.<\/p>\n
However, under the bill the government has ensured that small-
\nscale farmers will not have to pay for their water, although
\nlarge-scale farmers with export-orientated businesses will have
\nto pay.<\/p>\n
The bill says the involvement of the private sector will be
\nlimited to areas such as the supply of tap water and bottled
\ndrinking water, areas where there is at present a lack of clear
\nregulation.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/water-bill-pays-scant-heed-to-conservation-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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