Water fees and the water bill<\/p>\n
The March 14 and March 15 editions of The Jakarta Post
\nfeatured news on the water fees for farmers. It said that on
\nMarch 14 a new draft of a government regulation was proposed,
\nobliging farmers to pay for water used for irrigation. The
\nfollowing day, two legislators responded to the issue by vowing
\nto reject this move as it is stipulated in the water resources
\nbill the House of Represernatatives (DPR) has been deliberating
\non.<\/p>\n
The fee that the farmers have to pay as stipulated in Article
\n7 (5), called the fee for the financial management of basin water
\nresources for irrigation use, is the same as the fee for the
\nirrigation water service (IPAIR) that farmers have to pay to
\ntheir association.<\/p>\n
The difference between the two fees is that IPAIR is paid in
\nan irrigation scheme level while the former is paid in a basin
\nwater resources management unit, which is managed by an
\ninstitution. The two fees are not a water charge if what is meant
\nis a tax for using water.<\/p>\n
The water charge as a tax for water utilization is stipulated
\nin Law No.34\/2000 on the amendment of Law No. 18\/1997 on regional
\ntaxes and regional retribution, specifically Articles 2 and 2A.
\nBoth the water resources bill and the draft of the government
\nregulation never talk about the water charges being a tax, except
\nas a service fee or contribution. This is the first main
\nmisunderstanding concerning the water charge discourse nowadays.<\/p>\n
The second misunderstanding is a perception that the water
\nresources bill stipulates that there is an irrigation water
\ncharge. This perception may have come from a wrong conclusion on
\nthe implication of the water use right that is given to farmers
\nas stipulated in articles 41 (1) and 41 (2). The noncommercial
\nwater use right will be granted to water use associations and the
\ncommercial water use right will be granted to agricultural
\nenterprises in using irrigation water.<\/p>\n
However, accepting the water use right, commercial or
\nnoncommercial, does not necessarily oblige or free someone from
\npaying the water charge automatically. The water resources bill
\ndoes not stipulate the relation of the water use right to the
\nwater charge as a tax. But it can be implicitly concluded from
\narticles 80 (1) and (2) in the bill, in which it says all users
\nof water, except for basic needs, will be obliged to pay
\nmanagement service fees.<\/p>\n
We can be sure that farmers will not have to pay a water
\ncharge as a tax not from the bill, but from Law No. 34\/2000,
\nspecifically in the explanation given in Article 2 (d), which
\nstates that there is no tax on water used for basic household
\nneeds or agricultural purposes. This principle should be
\nintegrated into the water resources bill.<\/p>\n
KUSWANTO SA, Bogor, West Java<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/water-fees-and-the-water-bill-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }